Finding Yourself
by DianneRose2016
Summary: Warnings: bad language, abuse, prostitution, violence, rape. Chapter warnings inside. Summary: Set in season 6 the night of Dead Things. Spike has been through more than what the others know with his relationship with Buffy. Spike decides that he needs to get out of town for a little bit to heal. Only when he comes back his life is only going to get worse. Full summary inside.
1. An Unexpected Visitor

_**An: okay so I know I have a lot of stories up right now that I have started for Angel and Buffy, but this idea is bugging me so I figured what the hell and keep going. I know some people don't like Slash so I am going to start off by saying this will contain Slash between Angel and Spike. It won't be the extreme lovey dovey stories that I have read. They won't be way out of character, they will be slightly, because they weren't gay on the show, except that one time that is mentioned in the last season of Angel by Spike. Anyways…. This will be a crossover between the two shows and I have no idea where I am going with this, but hey I never do so that shouldn't stop me.**_

_**So obviously in order for this to work I am going to need to change a few plot lines. So let's play a fun game of this never happened. This will be set in Season 6 of the show after Buffy beats the hell out of Spike in the alley (Dead Things). Spike still has the chip and everything in season 4 and five still count. Season 6 though Spike and Buffy have still slept together, but Spike's chip still works on Buffy so he can't hit her back. Buffy and Spike are very much so in an abusive relationship, but worse than Spike can now handle. Buffy has been taking her anger out on Spike by beating him up on a regular basis and is still using him for sex. I don't know what season of Angel this would be set in, but this is before Darla got pregnant with Connor and all of that. Connor doesn't exist and Spike never came to Angel during season one to torture him. Spike and Angel have never spoken to each other since he helped Buffy to kill him to save the world.**_

_**So now that that is out of the way on to the summary: Spike shows up at Angel's hotel badly beaten just before dawn rises. Angel doesn't want to take Spike in, but he is family and badly in need of some help. He takes Spike in and learns a few shocking secrets that he didn't know. Spike doesn't want to stay, but he truly doesn't know where else to go and he can't ignore the fact that it feels nice being around Angel again. He's struggling with his life and who he is and even Angel can plainly see that Spike just doesn't know what to do anymore.**_

_**Warnings: Violence, Slash, bad language, sexual situations, prostitution and abuse on all levels. I have no idea what else, but I'll give ya a heads up.**_

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An Unexpected Visitor

Spike laid in that alley barely able to move. He knew that something was wrong with Buffy, but it still didn't change how he was feeling. She thought she had killed that girl and Spike couldn't blame her for that, but he couldn't just let her walk into that police station and spend the rest of her life in jail. She had helped too many people to just throw her life away for one mistake, one dead body. It wasn't her fault she had been off all day feeling like her mind was slipping. Spike knew someone was behind this, someone had been messing with Buffy not long after she had returned from Heaven. Spike had tried to be there for her and he thought she had appreciated it. Even though it was painful for him to go through all of this he did because he loved her and he just wanted to be with her no matter how much it hurt and it had hurt. Spike had lost count within the last six months how many times she had come over used him to escape her own pain for a little while then took her anger out on him. Sometimes she could come over and just have sex with him before she kicked him in the head and left without saying a word. Spike wasn't too upset during those times. He had come to expect it, it was still painful, he was starting to feel like some type of unpaid prostitute that Buffy could just use when she felt the itch, but she wasn't about what he wanted. There had been a few times when she would have sex with him, but once she got off she would just get up and leave, leaving Spike completely unsatisfied. There had been other times when Spike was too beat up after she came over the night before to release her anger at the world out on him. She would come over the next night wanting sex, but Spike was in too much pain to be even in the mood. She didn't care though she would just get him hard and climb on top of him, not even caring she was causing him even more pain. The only way he would even stay hard was just by friction alone. He wasn't turned on or even in the mood he just wanted her to get off and leave him alone. The pain he was in was always bad after Buffy comes by to take her anger out on him. It wasn't that Spike didn't understand he was an evil soulless thing after all. She could never love him, no one could. Spike understood that Buffy needed to take her anger out on someone after being ripped out of Heaven by her friends, he best friends. He got it and it only made sense for that target to be him. He could take it or so he thought he could take it.

Tonight had been to a more extreme level. Buffy had broken a few ribs before, but never almost all of them, plus he knew his face was swelling and he had some internal bleeding. He was in an extreme amount of pain, as bad as it had been with Glory after a few rounds with her chained up. Spike had no idea buffy could be that relentless and strong before and just like Glory he couldn't fight back. The chip made it impossible to even defend himself against a human. If this had been a demon then he could have fought back and won, but Buffy wasn't a demon she was a human so he couldn't do it. He couldn't defend himself without causing even more pain to himself. He was sitting in a helpless situation. All he did know was that he couldn't lay on the payment forever, he had to get up and get to cover before the sun came up. He only had three hours before the sun would come up and he would be a big pile of dust if he didn't move soon. Though, at this point he didn't really know if he cared about being a big pile of dust or not.

Spike had been through a lot in his life. He had dealt with some harsh treatment from Angelus back in the day when he was first turned that was for certain, but he had never felt like this. He had never felt this alone and worthless. Every time Buffy came by to take her anger out on him she would always call him a soulless, evil monster. She would tell him how he was nothing and no one could ever love a cold, disgusting demon like him. Spike didn't listen to her the first couple of times, but after hearing it for six months, plus dealing with her beatings and the other comments from Xander had really screwed with his mind. Spike couldn't help, but believe her when she said those things. He had started to become depressed four months ago. Over the past four months Spike had started to stay in at night, losing interest in even going out to Willy's for a few pints. The demon community turned their back on him ten months ago making it impossible to get money to buy liquor and blood. As a result he had stopped eating as often so he had lost some weight and his healing time increased. Spike knew that with his injuries it would take a good month before he was fully healed and Spike knew that Buffy wasn't going to wait until she pounded on him again for him to heal. Spike knew within a week that Buffy would be back to take her anger out on him. Just like Spike knew that Buffy would be by tomorrow night or the next night looking for sex, not caring how he was feeling. Or even feeling bad for what she did to him tonight.

Spike couldn't think about that right now he had to get up and out of this alley and back to his place before the sun would come up. Spike pushed himself up onto his knees, trying to do his best to ignore the unbearable pain shooting up his whole body. All of his ribs were broken and Spike didn't even know if he was even going to be able to move right now. Spike didn't have a choice though, he didn't have anyone he could call, even if he had a phone, that would come and help him. He was completely alone. The demons in this town had long given up on Spike's loyalty. They had all labeled him as the Slayer's bitch making it even harder to get the odd job. It had been a good ten months since Spike had a single job. In order to get by he had resorted to pick pocketing humans and even going to the demon club that paid vampires next to nothing for other demons and vampires to feed off from them. It paid next to nothing, but sometimes if the demon or vampire liked you enough they would pay to have sex with you. Spike had never thought in his life that he would ever have to do anything like that, but in the past ten months he had barely any money and he had to help with Dawn's care. He had to help out with the household while Buffy was dead so he didn't have a choice. Spike wasn't proud of it and he hated it completely that he had to lower himself to that level just to survive, but he didn't have a choice. If it was just him he wouldn't care he would go without blood for as long as he could, but he couldn't do that to his Niblet. He had to push through and be there for her, because no one else seemed to be paying any attention to her. Spike had to help take care of her and be there for her. He had to help cook her dinner and help her with her homework, because the others were all too busy to. So Spike had let other vampires and demons feed off from him. He even let other vampires fuck him, because he had to be there for Dawn. All of that didn't help with his self-esteem issues right now. When Buffy got back he thought things would go back to normal, things would be okay but now they seemed to have gotten worse. Spike would have laid there and welcomed the sun, but he knew Dawn wouldn't be able to handle his death. So he forced himself up onto his feet. He forced himself to block out the pain as he realised that his right knee was fractured. He forced his body forward and kept walking all the way back to his crypt. It took him a good hour to even get there, but he had finally made it. His breathing was heavy even though he didn't need to breathe, it was just a habit that he could never break even after over a century of being dead.

Spike went over to his trap door and jumped down, but he didn't land on his feet he handed in a heap on the ground. He had decided on his slow and very painful walk over here that he couldn't be here in the morning. He had to go somewhere for a few days just to get away. He didn't want to leave Dawn, but he needed some time away from Buffy and the rest of them. He didn't want to worry Dawn, but he couldn't stay here right now. He needed some time to heal and to get his mind clear. He knew what Buffy was doing was wrong, even though he loved her he couldn't take much more. He just needed to get somewhere that he could sleep and recover. After that he would figure out what to do next.

Spike grabbed his duffle bag and put his clothes into it before he headed out the trap door and out of his crypt. He kept his motorcycle around the back of the crypt so he got on his bike and kept his small duffle bag in the front between him and the handlebars. He then took a deep breath trying to calm his shaking down. He was in extreme amounts of pain both physically and emotionally, plus he was starving. He hadn't eaten in a week and it was starting to have a negative effect on him. He would need to find a place to go for the morning and then come nightfall he could continue on his way. Spike turned on his bike before he took off out of Sunnydale and out on the Highway. Spike figured he would head towards the closest largest city which was L.A. Spike didn't know what he was going to do, but at least L.A was a large city so he would at least be able to find someone to pick their pocket and get some blood with it.

Spike knew he had to hurry though, because the sun would be coming up within the next two hours and he needed to find some place to hide out the next twelve hours. Spike also had to spend a large amount of energy on not passing out and crashing his bike. Spike didn't know what he was going to do, but he just had to try and stay awake long enough to get somewhere that he could hide out in. Spike was fighting to keep his eyes open, but he knew that if he fell asleep now he wouldn't be waking up at all. He had to keep fighting, because Dawn needed him. He couldn't just let her down and die. She needed him to be there for her so he had to keep fighting. He would be back to Sunnydale in a week or two. He just needed a little break and then he would go back hopefully a little more healed.

It was two hours later when the welcome to L.A sign came into Spike's view. It was a good thing because the sun was starting to come up and Spike knew he didn't have much longer before he would be in jeopardy. Now the problem became he didn't know where to go. He didn't have any money so he couldn't get some shitty hotel room. He didn't know anyone in L.A except for Angel, even then he only knew where he was vaguely. That wasn't even the only problem, he hadn't seen Angel since he helped Buffy kill him to save the world. Spike knew that Angel didn't like him, that he hated him, he made that clear a long time ago. When they were both evil Angel didn't like him, but they still had fun together. Now with his soul he just saw Spike as an evil monster like everyone else. He didn't know where else to go though and with the sun fast approaching over the horizon he didn't have a choice. It was either going to Angel's and hoping he would let him crash there or it was to a dusty ending. Spike figured he could do this for Dawn, he had done worse for her so this shouldn't be too bad. If nothing else he might be able to sneak some blood from Angel's fridge and get something into him. The last time he had eaten was a week ago and that was from a vampire. Vampire blood can be good, but only if it was in your own family line or came from a strong bloodline like his. It's why so many vampires were happy to pay next to nothing to bite him, at least he got next to nothing for it. Spike needed some real blood and animal blood was better than rats or vampire blood. Spike never believed that he would ever reach the level that he was currently at. He was a Master Vampire, someone to fear and now he was this disgusting being that had to allow other vampires and demons to drink his blood or even fuck him just to get by. He could hear Angel's voice in his head now laughing at him and telling him he was worthless and disowning him from the family.

Spike knew he didn't have a choice though he had to go to Angel's and just hope that he would let him stay there without asking him too many questions. Spike remembered the name of the hotel and he remembered where it was vaguely so he headed in that direction and just hoped he would be able to find it before the sun got too high. Spike was able to find the hotel relatively easy enough and with only a few minutes to spare. The problem now he faced was getting off his bike and hoping that someone would answer the door and let him in. He knew from the others that Angel was doing his own demon fighting and investigations down here with his own team, but he didn't know if they would be awake or not. He knew that Angel would have been up all night, but he didn't know if he had gone to bed or not yet. Spike slowly got off his bike and grabbed his bag before he stumbled to the door. He was starting to feel the sun against his skin and he knew he had to just convince Angel to let him inside. Spike got to the door and he was shaking so badly and so dizzy he thought he would pass out any second now. Spike knocked as loudly as he could. After a few moments the door opened and Angle was standing on the other side. When he first opened the door Spike could see the annoyance on his face. He would have been able to sense that it was him on the other side. The second he actually saw Spike the annoyance was gone and his face was blank, but Spike thought he saw a small amount of concern in Angel's eyes, but he knew that it was just his imagination. Angel had never shown any concern for him ever.

"Spike, get inside before I have to sweep you off my front step." Angel said with the shake of his head.

Spike took the few steps inside and Angel could see the level of pain that Spike was in and trying to hide it from him. Spike always had this thing about showing weakness around anyone, but especially Angelus. Some habits were hard to break even though Angel wouldn't give Spike a hard time with the level of damage he was in. Angel closed the door and noticed the small duffle bag that Spike had in his hand. He also noticed that his hands were shaking, his whole body was shaking. Angel could tell that Spike had lost a good amount of weight since he had seen him last. He could also tell there was some serious damage underneath his clothes and internally. Angel hadn't seen Spike in a good four years, but seeing him now he couldn't help but be concerned. Spike almost never lost a fight and when he did it was usually to Angel himself. Seeing him this beat up was disturbing for Angel.

"What brings you by Spike?" Angel asked trying to sound normal and not give away his concern.

"Just passing through. Didn't know if I could crash here till sundown." Spike said, but he wouldn't meet Angel's eyes.

"As long as you don't eat anyone fine. Rooms are upstairs. I was just going to bed myself."

Spike gave a nod and began to walk with Angel towards the stairs. Angel could see that Spike was having a hard time walking and he was favoring his right knee. His shaking had also gotten worse. Angel walked closely by Spike and went at his own pace so he could be there in case Spike collapsed. They slowly got up the stairs and Angel could tell that Spike was in an extreme amount of pain. Angel didn't know what had happened, but he was going to find out. They didn't have the best relationship, but Spike was still his Childe and he didn't like it that someone did this to him. Angel led Spike down the hallway until they got to his room. He stopped and opened the door and spoke at the same time.

"In here."

Spike was too tired and in too much pain to even bother to argue. He could tell by the smell of the room that it was Angel's and he didn't even care. At this point he just wanted to sleep and not wake up for a good week. Once inside the room Angel closed the door and turned his attention to Spike.

"Take your shirt off and get on the bed so I can look at your injuries."

Spike didn't even argue he just dropped his bag on the ground and went over to the bed. Angel knew that something was more wrong with Spike than he thought. Spike always argued with him, but right now it seemed like Spike just didn't care anymore. Angel went over to Spike as he tried to lift his t-shirt off after taking off his jacket. Angel could see that he was having a hard time getting his shirt off so he went over and gently lifted the shirt off from Spike. Angel couldn't believe what he saw underneath the shirt. Spike's whole torso was covered in dark black bruising. Angel could see that all of his ribs were broken and he knew there would be internal damage done as well.

"What the hell happened?" Angel asked with anger at seeing his Childe in this state.

Spike had always been a pain in his ass, mostly because they were both evil. Then when he got a soul he left after Darla kicked him out for having one. Ever since then they hadn't gotten along, because a vampire with a soul can't get along with a vampire without a soul. Angel had a lot of regrets with what he did when he was evil and the way he treated Spike was one of them. He knew he was crueler towards Spike, because he wanted someone to be just as evil as he was and the only way for that to happen was by torturing someone. He needed Spike to be strong and to be afraid of him at the same time. Spike just became more rebellious though and now Angel knew that Spike hated him. Angel knew that Spike was only here because he needed a place to crash until the sun went down. Still seeing Spike this injured angered Angel. Spike was always a strong fighter he had never looked this bad before.

"Bad night" Spike said softly.

"It looks like a lot more than just a bad night. You've lost weight. When was the last time you ate?" Angel asked as calmly as he could manage.

Spike just shrugged. He didn't want Angel to know about how pathetic and weak he had become. Angel let out a sigh before he turned and left the room. Spike didn't know where he was going, but he couldn't bring himself to care. He was just so tired and in so much pain he just wanted to sleep. He was tempted to lie down, but he knew Angel wouldn't be done with him yet. It was better to just wait for when Angel said he could sleep before he laid down, because if he laid down now he didn't think he would be able to get back up. After a few minutes Angel came back upstairs with a mug of warm blood. The smell hit Spike the moment Angel walked back into the room and Spike's stomach instantly growled and his eyes went yellow. Angel knew by the instant reaction that Spike's body had to the blood, he knew it had been more than a few days since Spike had fed. Angel handed Spike the mug and Spike took it and drank it down within a minute. Spike's eye went back to normal and he placed the mug down on the nightstand.

"Thanks." Spike said softly and Angel knew he was embarrassed by the way his body reacted to just the smell of blood.

"You need to lay down. All of your ribs are broken, but don't think that gets you out of answering my questions." Angle said in a serious voice.

Spike didn't even say anything he just laid back down on the pillows at the head of the bed. He was still shaking from the pain, but at least that mug of blood had helped to stop the hunger pains in his stomach for now. Angel sat down on the edge of the bed and faced Spike. He put his forearms on his knees and tried to remain calm. Something had obviously happened to change Spike this much. Just four years ago he was helping to kill him and now he was following everything he said like a little puppy dog. This wasn't his Childe, but a shell of the man he used to be.

"When was the last time you ate?"

"Do we have to do this now? I'm tired and everything hurts." Spike said in a weak voice and he hated himself for showing weakness to the one person who had always taught him that weakness would never be allowed.

Spike closed his eyes and waited for Angel to yell at him or hit him like he used to when he showed any signs of weakness. Angel knew that Spike regretted the words the moment he said them. At one point in their past Angel would have beaten the crap out of Spike for ever showing weakness. Spike's instant reaction made perfect sense to Angel and Angel knew that he had to work on rebuilding this relationship. It wasn't that Angel hated Spike, he didn't; they just never got along because of the soul and no soul thing. That didn't change the fact that Spike was his Childe and he was family. Angel wasn't about to kill him and he wasn't about to ignore what was happening right now.

"I know you are tired and in an extreme amount of pain, but the sooner we do this then the sooner you can sleep. I need to know what is going on. Four years ago you were all ready to help kill me to save the world. Now you are starving and covered in bruises. What the hell is going on?" Angel asked calmly, but Spike could have sworn he heard a small amount of concern in his voice.

"Just got into a fight is all no big deal."

"You're hands aren't bruised or cut up Spike. Why didn't you fight back against your attacker or attackers?"

"Because I couldn't."

"The demon tied you up?" Angel asked.

"No"

"Then how come you didn't fight back? Was there more than one of them?" Angel asked not understanding why Spike wouldn't have just killed the demon easily.

"It wasn't a demon. It was a human and there was only one." Spike said with his eyes closed trying to fight back the pain.

"A human did this to you? How the hell is that even possible? Why wouldn't you kill them?" Angel asked now more confused than before.

Spike opened his eyes and turned his head to look at Angel shock clearly on his face. "You don't know."

"What don't I know?"

"They never told you?" Spike asked to himself more confused now than ever.

"Who never told me?"

"Buffy and the gang. They never told you what happened. I figured they would have. You all have a good laugh over it."

"Spike I don't know what you're talking about. What didn't they tell me?" Angel asked clearly confused and slightly angry that something obviously happened that was kept from him.

"Two years ago I came into Sunnydale again. I got attacked from behind with a Taser Gun of some sorts for demons. Knocked me out cold. When I woke up I was in this white room with a glass door. Turns out it was some Government Agency called the Initiative. They took demons and vampires and did experiments on them and testing. They put a chip in my head to neuter me. I can't bite or hurt a human without unimaginable pain shooting all through my head. I can't hurt a human anymore, haven't been able to in two years."

The shock was clear on Angel's face, but also an underlining anger that he didn't know about this.

"Why didn't you ever tell me?"

Spike let out a small chuckle, but groaned in pain right afterwards. "Tell you, bloody Angelus, that I'm a human's bitch now. Can't defend myself against them, can't fed off of them and live. Ya that would have gone over well." Spike said sadly.

"I'm not Angelus anymore Spike. I'm not saying I wouldn't have gloated a little, but Spike I would have helped you. You're still family I would have helped you figure out how to survive off animal blood and how to get it. How were you able to survive?"

"Went to Watcher boy's house to see if they knew what was going on. Spent a few weeks chained up in his bathroom and they figured out there was a chip in my brain. About a month after getting it the world was going to end again and I got dragged along. Found out I could hit a demon that helped me not want to kill myself. I got myself a crypt and then did odd jobs for other demons. When Buffy needed information or help she would give me ten bucks or twenty sometimes if it was important enough to her. I can still steal as long as I don't hurt anyone."

Angel shook his head. "You've been able to get blood steadily though?"

"Normally." Spike said with a shrug.

"Why not recently?"

"I didn't say it hasn't been recent."

"Your reaction to the blood says otherwise. You haven't reacted like that since you were a fledging."

"It's nothing." Spike said with his eyes closed.

"When was the last time you had blood Spike? And don't say a few minutes ago."

"Blood or animal blood?"

"You said you haven't been able to feed off of anyone in two years. I'm assuming you are on animal blood so I don't understand your question."

Spike let out a sigh clearly annoyed that Angel wasn't going to let him sleep until he had the answers he wanted.

"Please just let this go and let me sleep." Spike tried even though he knew it wasn't going to work.

"I can't do that Spike. You show up seconds before you would be burnt to dust from the sun. You are beaten up severely and starving. I can't let this go. You're family."

"Now I'm family. You didn't care when you left back then or any other day after that. You certainly didn't care back in Sunnydale when I was paralyzed. Don't need you to start caring now." Spike said trying his best to hide his hurt, but Angel could clearly hear it.

"I didn't just leave Spike. Darla kicked me out when she found out I was cursed with my soul. She thought I would be a bad influence on the family. She knew I couldn't be cruel anymore. I didn't want to leave, but she was my Sire and she told me I was no longer a part of this family. I still thought about you all and I still missed you. By the time I was able to live with my soul you and Drusilla had made a name for yourselves all over the world. You weren't as cruel as I was, but you were enjoying being a vampire. It was too late then. As for Sunnydale I'm sorry for what I did to you. You were paralyzed and I could have healed you, but after so many decades of my demon being trapped it was uncontrollable. My demon was insane from being trapped by the soul. I am sorry for what I did to you back in Sunnydale it's why I don't hold you helping Buffy to kill me against you. I would have too. Now it's been two years since you've fed off a human. Two years of fighting the good fight and keeping people safe. We're back to fighting on the same side, even if we both didn't ask for it. When was the last time you ate something?"

Spike was silent for a few moments and Angel could tell he was thinking about if he should tell him or not. Angel didn't want to tell Spike how back when he got his soul he wanted to take him with him. Angel wanted so desperately to take Spike away from Darla and Drusilla and bring him with him. He knew that Spike was different from the moment he sired him, even before that. Spike was such a gentle soul and even when he was turned that human part of him was still there. It's what made Spike truly be able to feel emotions and love. It's what made Spike who he was and not even Angelus had been able to break him of that. Spike loved to eat normal food and keep up with the times. Angel still could remember Spike teaching him how to drive. Now Spike can use a computer and cell phones. He knows how to drive a car, truck and a motorcycle. Spike loved being a vampire, but Angel knew he just loved life itself. He always wanted to have a good time and being a vampire made it possible to do more of it. He was very well educated, something that most people don't know about. He went to Oxford University and graduated with honors in English. He wrote poems that Angel always loved. He could write songs and stories. He loved to read old English literature and he could even draw much like himself. Spike always had this life and spark in his eyes. He just wanted to enjoy life and have someone to love and be loved back. Spike had loved Drusilla and he knew that he was in love with Buffy, thanks to Buffy telling him. The problem was Spike had never been with someone that truly loved him back. Drusilla was just using Spike because he was there and would do anything she asked. She would still cheat on him with anyone she wanted vampire or demon included. Spike had no idea what it meant to be loved or to feel safe with someone. Angel could still remember that drunk night that they shared when the girls were out hunting. They had gotten so drunk they ended up sleeping together. Angel could still remember how Spike told him he had never felt so safe before in his whole existence. Spike didn't remember it the next day so Angel just let it go, but it was the first time that Angel could see that there was more to Spike. So when he got his soul he immediately thought about taking Spike with him, because he did care about Spike. He did see something in him that would make him more than just another vampire. Angel saw a lot of potential in Spike and he was hoping now that he can't hurt humans he might be able to get Spike to start living up to that potential.

"A week ago I got into a fight with a vampire. I drank from her before I dusted her." Spike finally said softly.

Angel couldn't help the hurt that passed through him. To know that his own Childe was so desperate that he fed off another vampire. It was different if it was from your family, but outsiders it was looked down upon from the era that they are from. Angel knew that lots of other vampires will feed off each other. Some will even pay to bite a stronger vampire just to feel the rush of the blood, but Spike was never like that. He hated the idea of drinking from another vampire or demon unless it was within the family.

"You were that hungry you fed off another vampire? When was the last time you had any real blood? You know blood outside of your family won't do anything for healing or nutrients, it will just keep you from dying."

"Three weeks before that I had a pint of animal blood that I was able to steal. So I guess a month ago then."

"I thought you were helping Buffy with fighting demons and doing the odd job for other demon clans?"

"I used to work for other demon clans, but ten months ago the work stopped. I was helping Buffy, I still am, but she stopped paying me over a year ago."

"What the hell have you been doing for money?"

"I pickpocket when I get the chance or steal it from other demons."

"Don't you have any saved up? You always used to have stashes hidden all over the damn place."

"I did, but when Buffy died I stayed to help keep the Niblet safe and to take care of her. There were bills to pay for the house and for her school. It took up the money within the first two months."

"What about the others? They weren't helping with Dawn?"

"They were all grieving and they couldn't really be there for her. Red and Glenda had school. Anya and the Whelp had work and their own house to look after. Giles stayed for the funeral and then he left for the mother country. Everyone was so lost in their own lives that Niblet was being neglected. I promised Buffy I would look out for Dawn no matter what so I stayed even though I really wanted to leave. She would come by the crypt after school and I would take her home at night for dinner that first month. I found out on the second month that no one was paying the bills and she didn't really have any food. So I paid the back rent and rent after that plus the utilities and the food. She needed school supplies. After three months the money was gone."

"I didn't know any of that. I assumed by what Willow said that they were all looking after Dawn. I know Willow and Tara moved in to help Dawn. They never said anything about you."

"Don't surprise me. They ignored me when I was there. After that first month I started staying at the house so I could be there in the morning for the Niblet and be there at night to help her with her homework and cook dinner. I would then go and patrol all night before the day started all over again. When Buffy came back they stopped ignoring me and started to go back to the way things were. Them telling me to leave Buffy and Niblet alone. She would have been homeless and starved and they wouldn't even have noticed."

"Grief makes people act in strange ways you know that. At least Dawn had you there for her."

"Still does."

"Why did you leave last night then if you are going back there?"

"Just needed a breather. Some time to heal up. I don't know where I'm going yet. I'll figure it out later. I'll go back in two weeks. I'll call her later and let her know so she doesn't worry."

"Did you leave, because this human is going to come back for you?"

"It doesn't matter."

"It does matter. Spike a human did this kind of damage to you. What the hell did they even use?"

"Just their fists."

"What kind of human has this much strength? You look like a demon beat you up or a vampire. The only type of human with this type of strength are Slayers."

Spike didn't say anything and he wouldn't even turn his head in Angel's direction. Angel instantly felt confusion and anger fill his body at Spike's reaction. He would have never thought that Buffy would ever do this to Spike. He couldn't fight back, even if he could he wouldn't. Angel could still clearly remember the times that Drusilla was out of her mind and beating Spike. He would never defend himself. He would never raise his hand to her, because he loved her and he believed that you don't hurt the woman you love.

"Buffy did this to you?" Angel asked softly with shock to his voice.

"It doesn't matter."

"It does matter Spike. Why do you keep saying that?" Angel asked not even bothering to hide his anger.

"Because I don't matter ok?" Spike snapped as he opened his eyes and looked at Angel.

"What are you talking about?" Angel asked with anger.

"I don't matter. I'm just some evil, soulless thing. I can't feel anything so it doesn't matter what happens to me." Spike said sadly.

"Is that what she told you?"

"She's not the only one."

"Spike you are not some evil, soulless thing. You don't have a soul, but you aren't evil anymore. You have been helping them fight demons. Taking care of Dawn. Evil monsters don't do that. You don't need a soul to be good. What the hell has happened to you? You've never been like this, even when Angelus got a hold of you. Why would Buffy beat you like this? Help me understand this Spike." Angel said with a plead in his voice.

Spike let out a sigh. He just wanted to sleep, but it was too late now. He had to tell Angel what had been happening, but he wasn't going to tell him about the club. He wasn't going to show him just how weak and pathetic he had become.

"After she came back she was having a hard time. She was going through the motions and just struggling. One night we kissed the next night she told me it was a mistake and it didn't mean anything. A few nights later we're making out at the Bronze and then we're screwing around. That first month everything seemed fine. She would come by when she had that need and then leave. She started to get stressed and overwhelmed though with life. She was in Heaven and her friends took her out of it. She's angry at them, but she can't hurt them. She can hurt me though. When she gets too angry and upset she'll come to me and beat me up then leave. She'll come back the next night to make it up to me. Tonight it wasn't her fault. Someone's been screwing around with her. She thought she killed some innocent woman. She might have I don't know. She said the world seemed weird when she was trying to fight, like the time changed. She was going to turn herself in and I tried to stop her. She beat me until I couldn't get back up and then went into the station anyways. By the time I got up and got back to my crypt it wasn't that far away from sunrise. I figured I would leave for a couple of weeks to heal and give her some space. She'll come by tomorrow or the day after looking for some make-up sex and I just can't handle that right now. So I left. I still need to call Niblet and let her know. It's not Buffy's fault she just can't take her anger out on anyone."

"Spike you do know you sound like an abuse victim right? She beat you in an alley and left you there. You could have died when the sun came up. Yet she's going to come by later and want sex from you. That makes it ok?"

"It wouldn't be the first time." Spike said softly more to himself, but with Angel being a vampire he heard it anyways.

"What do you mean it wouldn't be the first time? What wouldn't be?"

"Nothing. I don't want to talk about it ok?" Spike said softly.

"Spike what are you keeping from me?"

"I don't want to talk about this, not with you."

"Why not?"

"Because you won't believe me." Spike said softly.

"I can tell when you are lying Spike. Tell me what you meant by that. I can see that you want to tell someone what has been happening. You can tell me Spike. I'll believe you." Angel said calmly.

Spike let out an unneeded, but shaky breath before he started. Angel was right he did need to tell someone, even if Angel yelled and called him a liar. At least he would have told someone finally after six months of this.

"The beatings haven't been this bad, but sometimes they get pretty bad. The next night she usually comes by and at first I thought it was to apologise, but she just wants sex so she can feel something other than anger. There's been a few times when I'm in too much pain and I don't want it. She doesn't care though and just does it anyways and then leaves once she gets off. When I'm not beat up and she comes by for sex it's just that sex. Once we're done she'll punch me across the face and then gets up and leaves. Before the whole sex thing she used to come by just to talk and hang out. I didn't expect that to change, but it did. She doesn't even want me around when she patrols now. She doesn't want me around Niblet much either. She gets upset when she comes by after school without her permission. I'm just tired. I just need a couple of weeks away and then things will be fine. I'm just tired." Spike said the last part more to himself, but Angel knew he was trying to convince himself that two weeks away and everything would be fine.

Angel knew it wouldn't just make everything better. Spike was basically in an abusive relationship, with Buffy of all people. Angel could understand being dragged out of Heaven would have been traumatic. Dying the way that she did would have been traumatic, but she would have been dead and unaffected by it. Now she was alive and having to deal with everything, but she wasn't doing it the right away. She had no right to hurt Spike like this. She had no right to beat Spike then show up the next night expecting sex whether he was in the shape to or not. Spike was a guy and they could get it up off friction alone, but that didn't mean they wanted it. If she was going to do that the least she could have done was to get him off while he was going through it. Angel couldn't help but feel bad for Spike. He loved Buffy and Angel knew for certain that he did. To risk his own danger by looking after a human teenager was proof of that. Spike would have lost any future jobs with demons once everyone found out he was raising a human girl. It was against the code. Killing each other happened all the time, but you don't play human when you aren't. The fact that ten months ago was the last time he had a steady job was proof of that. Angel could also feel the Sire in him growing angrier and angrier at Buffy. He knew that she had been going through a hard time, but to beat Spike and then practically rape him afterwards was just down right cruel. The sweet girl that he fell in love with would never do something like that, especially when Spike couldn't even defend himself against her. It all made sense though why Spike was like this. For the past ten months he has been struggling with raising a teenager, no money for food so he was starved half the time, plus being abused by the woman he loves. Angel let out a sigh and rubbed his hands over his face. He couldn't believe how much his Childe had been through recently.

"I'm sorry Spike. She doesn't have any right to do this to you. You don't deserve this shit. You don't deserve to be abused by her or anyone."

"It's not abuse. She's just going through a hard time right now. It's nothing I can't handle. I just need a couple of weeks to heal and then I have to go back and take care of Niblet. I promised her that I wouldn't leave her. I can't break that promise to her. Buffy just needs some time. I'm just tired everything will be fine once I get some sleep. I just need sleep." Spike said weakly and Angel knew he was trying to convince himself that he could keep doing this.

Angel got up off the bed as he spoke.

"You got one thing right, you need sleep. We can talk more about this once you've rested and eaten something."

Angel went over to the other side of the room and grabbed some black silk sleep pants. While he did this Spike kicked off his boots and moved the blanket so he could get under the covers. Angel came back over to the bed in just his silk black sleep pants before he got in under the covers on the other side of the bed. Spike made sure he was on his back so he wouldn't agitate his broken ribs any more than he already would by laying down. Together they both fell asleep silently being comforted by the smell of the other.

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Angel woke up a few hours later with the sense that something was wrong. He didn't know what but he could feel it and it was strong enough to wake him out of a dead sleep. Angel sat up and looked over at Spike to see if he felt it to. Usually Spike felt things a lot stronger than he did so he was sure that Spike was awake and wondering himself. Only when Angel looked down at Spike he was what was wrong. He was no longer breathing despite the fact that he didn't need to, Spike still breathed like a human. Right now he wasn't and his skin was a sickly grey color. Angel knew immediately what was wrong with him. He had seen it before with other vampires. It was what happened when you lost too much blood and were on the verge of death. Angel threw the covers off and looked at Spike. He saw that his stomach was completely black and Angel knew that he was bleeding out internally. Angel didn't know what the cause of it was, but he knew it was from the internal bleeding that Spike had after what Buffy did to him. Apparently, it was worse then what he himself and Spike thought it was. Angel knew Spike needed blood, but he needed something stronger than pig's blood. Angel didn't even hesitate he changed face and brought his fang against his wrist and cut it deep enough to bleed for Spike to be able to drink it. Angel then tilted Spike's head back and placed his now heavily bleeding wrist against Spike's mouth. He just needed to get some down Spike's throat and then the demon inside of Spike should take over and begin to drink. After a few seconds Spike began to swallow the blood and began to drink from the wrist. He didn't wake up or change his face and Angel knew that meant he was more weak and sick than Angel had thought. Angel knew his blood would help heal Spike faster. He had to give it to him a few times over the next day or two and with rest Spike should be fine. After five minutes Spike stopped drinking and Angel was thankful for that. He was starting to get dizzy from the blood loss. He watched as Spike stayed sleeping, but he could see his color getting better. He had to give Spike enough blood over the course of two days to heal his internal injuries. In two hours he would give Spike some pig's blood to boost his own blood in his system. Then later he would give Spike some more of his blood to heal him. Angel let out a sigh as he got up. He put the covers back over Spike before he went over to his closet to get dressed. He wasn't about to go back to sleep while he needed to watch Spike to make sure he doesn't bleed out again. He put on his jeans and a simple t-shirt before he left the room and headed down to the kitchen to get some blood into himself. He could tell by the sun that it was just before noon. He heard his team in the kitchen and Angel figured he would tell them now about Spike instead of trying to hide it. Angel didn't know what was going to happen with Spike. He did know that he wasn't going to let Spike leave in the condition that he was in.

Angel walked into the kitchen to see his team all standing around talking and drinking coffee. Angel went over to the fridge to grab some blood and warm it up for himself.

"Angel, you are up awfully early. Is everything alright?" Wesley asked.

"No actually there is something you guys need to know." Angel said he figured it was now or never. He couldn't exactly hide Spike from them.

"What's up?" Gunn asked.

"Spike is here." Angel said.

"Who?" Gunn asked.

"Spike is a vampire. He is Angel's Childe and he is evil." Wesley said.

"Why is Spike here? He tried to kill us back in high school remember? Parent teacher night really didn't go over so well." Cordelia said.

"Wait he tried to kill you guys? Why aren't we stakin' him?" Gunn asked slightly angry that Angel would let a threat into their home.

"It's not that simple." Angel started.

"Sounds simple to me. He's evil and a threat to us." Gunn said.

"Spike is Angel's Childe, Angel is his Sire. For Angel to kill Spike it wouldn't be that easy. Angel and Spike have a blood bond and to kill Spike would be like killing part of himself." Wesley said.

"But you tried to kill Darla and Drusilla. Isn't that the same thing?" Fred asked.

"It's a different type of bond. Spike and I have a stronger bond then I do with Drusilla. As for Darla she is my Sire not my Childe, it's still harder to kill her, but if it's for the good of the world then I can do some without hurting myself too much. Spike and I have a different bond it's stronger, or it used to be stronger before my soul. Now it's just complicated." Angel said.

"So I'll stake him." Gunn offered.

"No one is staking him or hurting him. He is under my protection just like the rest of you." Angel said in a serious voice.

"Why is he here?" Wesley asked. He was the only one who could understand the bond between them. Not fully, but he still understood it more than the others.

"He showed up just before sunrise severely beaten. He just wanted to spend the night here to wait out the sun. He said he would be gone when the sun goes down tonight." Angel answered.

"Perfect I'll hold the door for him." Cordelia said.

"He's not leaving. He's in no condition to be leaving. It's why I'm up this early. He was bleeding internally he almost died a few minutes ago. The beating was more severe than either of us thought. I think his spleen exploded or something for him to bleed so much internally." Angel said.

"Where was he attacked?" Wesley asked.

"In Sunnydale." Angel answered.

"Why did he come all this way if he was so hurt?" Fred asked.

"He wanted out of Sunnydale for a couple of weeks to heal. It's a long story and I didn't know about any of it until this morning when he told me."

"So what's the story?" Gunn asked.

Angel grabbed his mug out of the microwave and took a drink before he turned back to answer.

"Two years ago Spike was in Sunnydale and was taken by a Government Agency called the Initiative. They captured demons and vampires and do experiments on them. They put a microchip into Spike's brain to make it so he can't hurt humans. He can't fight them or bite them without extreme pain shooting through his head." Angel started.

"That was two years ago and you are just finding this out now?" Wesley asked surprised that no one had told Angel beforehand.

"Spike thought I knew. He went to Giles after it happened, but there was nothing they could do. Giles should have told me immediately he knows better being a Watcher. Buffy should have told me even, but no one did. I would have checked in on him to make sure he was able to keep feeding." Angel said.

"So he hasn't been able to eat in two years? Fred asked.

"He's been able to get money from the odd demon job and apparently Buffy would give him ten to twenty bucks for information on something happening in Sunnydale. When Buffy died Spike made the decision to take care of Dawn when after the first month it was clear no one else was. No one had paid the rent or got much food. Spike found out and used the money he had saved up to pay the rent and the bills in the house. He was practically living there while Buffy was dead." Angel said.

"That couldn't have gone over well with the demon population." Wesley said.

"I didn't. Spike hasn't been able to get a job from them in ten months." Angel said.

"Why? It didn't matter before why would it matter all of a sudden?" Fred asked.

"Because it's one thing to kill your own kind. It happens all the time. It's another to play human. Spike lost everything when he made the decision to raise Dawn, a human teenager. What little protection and respect he had within the demon world for being a Master Vampire was gone. Spike is now on his own in the demon world and in the human world. He can't even defend himself against a human." Angel said.

"So what did some demons want some pay back then and beat him up?" Gunn asked starting to get a little interested in the story.

"Buffy was in Heaven as you guys know, but when she came back she was and is upset. She's hurt and angry at her friends for what they did. I still don't know what happened the night she died, not completely or how they brought her back fully. Spike told me that she had been going through the motions and having a hard time feeling anything at all besides anger. Last night Buffy beat the hell out of Spike in an alley outside of a police station and then left him there."

"Buffy did?" Cordelia asked shocked. Buffy wasn't one to hurt someone who couldn't fight back.

"Is that unusual?" Fred asked.

"Buffy has this thing where she won't hurt a human or anyone harmless. If Spike can't fight back there was no point in hurting him." Cordelia said.

"And there wasn't. Since Buffy has been back someone has been messing around with her. She thought she killed a woman and she was going to turn herself in. Spike went to stop her. Tried to get her to see that one dead girl doesn't tip the scales. That she was needed and can't go to jail for the rest of her life. Buffy then attacked him and didn't stop even once he was down. All of his ribs are broken, he has massive internal bleeding as well as bruising all over his face. He wasn't a threat to her once he was down, but she continued anyways. If he hadn't gotten up he would have still been there when the sun came up and be dead right now."

"Holy crap. What is her deal?" Cordelia asked.

"I don't know. According to Spike they have had a relationship of sorts. They have been sleeping together and this isn't the first time she has attacked him and he hasn't been able to fight back. She's been abusing him essentially for the past six months." Angel said with a slight anger to his voice.

"Are you sure he's telling the truth?" Gunn asked.

"I can tell when he is lying and he wasn't. He didn't even want to tell me, because he believed I wouldn't believe him. He's telling the truth though." Angel answered.

"What the hell happened to her? I mean she was always so high and mighty about not harming the helpless and all that crap. Now she's using and abusing a vampire who can't even fight back." Cordelia said.

"A vampire who fell in love with her. Even if he could hit her he still wouldn't have. He won't raise his hand to the woman he loves. Drusilla used to beat the hell out of him during her moments and he wouldn't hurt her. He just takes it." Angel said.

"So what's his plan then?" Gunn asked.

"I haven't really talked to him about it in depth. He just said that he was looking to crash for the night here and then he would be on his way. He's going to stay out of Sunnydale for two weeks then go back." Angel answered.

"Where is he going to go during the rest of the two weeks?" Fred asked.

"He's not going anywhere. He's in no shape to be traveling with his injuries. He's staying here. If I had it my way he wouldn't be going back to Sunnydale, but I understand he has his reasons, whatever they might be." Angel said.

"It's probably Dawn. I mean he threw everything away just to take care of her while Buffy was dead. He wouldn't want to abandon her after doing all that. By leaving he probably feels like he is." Cordelia said.

"I get that, but he can't look after her if he's not strong enough. He hasn't had any real blood in a month. The first bit of blood he had in a month was last night and I gave it to him. He can't just not eat and keep getting beat up by Buffy when she is angry at her friends. I don't want him in that environment when there is clearly no one looking out for him." Angel said.

"We understand that Angel. Maybe the others don't know though." Wesley supplied.

"I don't know what they do or they don't know. When Spike is able to I'll be speaking to him about it and finding out. For now he's staying here so I can make sure he gets back to being healthy." Angel said.

"Do you need anything?" Fred asked.

"No I'm going to give him some blood to help get him healed. Do we have any clients right now?" Angel asked.

"Not yet, but something might come up." Cordelia said.

"Let me know if there is something that needs to be taken care of." Angel said before he went over to the fridge to get some blood for Spike.

Angel warmed it up in a mug and once the blood was warm enough he headed back upstairs to his room. He walked in and saw that Spike was still sleeping where he had left him. Angel could see that Spike's color was getting better and he was hoping that Spike would be able to wake up to drink the blood. Angel sat the mug of blood down on the bedside table before he sat down on the edge of the bed facing Spike. Angel could see that Spike's color was improving, but it wasn't back to normal. He also knew that Spike would be in pain for a good few days still and Angel was hoping he could just get Spike to sleep through the next few days until he was in better condition. Angel reached out and ran his thumb over Spike's cheek and called his name.

"Spike, come on wake up."

Spike stirred a little at the touch of Angel's thumb and hearing his name. Spike opened his right eye as his left eye was swollen shut. Angel could see the pain clearly all over Spike's face and he could feel it coming off from him. The blood that he had given Spike not even an hour ago had strengthen the weakened bond that they had shared at one point. Angel was able to feel Spike's pain through their bond. It wasn't the full extent, but Angel knew by the time Spike is healthy enough to leave that the bond will be back to full strength that it had been when he first sired Spike.

"You need blood. Do you think you can sit up to drink some?" Angel asked calmly.

Spike just gave a nod and Angel helped Spike to sit up. Angel went to sit behind Spike to help hold him up so he could drink. Angel picked up the mug and handed it to Spike. Spike held onto the mug, but Angel kept his hand on it as well, because he could feel that Spike didn't have the strength back yet. Once the blood was gone Angel placed the mug back down and moved away from behind Spike slowly so Spike could lie back down. Once Spike was back to lying down he was starting to shake once again from the pain.

"Something doesn't feel right." Spike said with pain clearly in his voice.

"You are bleeding more internally then we thought. I think your spleen erupted and you almost died. I had to give you some of my blood to keep you alive. With enough blood you should be fine in a few days."

Spike closed his eyes as he spoke. "You gave me your blood? You never give me your blood." Spike's voice was soft, but Angel could hear the confusion in his voice.

"You needed something stronger than pig's blood. Its fine don't worry about it. You need rest just sleep." Angel said calmly.

Spike was still shaking, but he had his eyes closed and Angel knew he was trying to block out the pain so he could sleep. After a few minutes Angel knew that Spike had fallen asleep. Angel was tired himself so he decided he would lay down and try and get some sleep before he had to wake Spike up to get him to feed again. Spike needed as much blood as he could get into him during the next two weeks so he could be back to full health once again. Angel went over and got changed before he went and crawled back into bed and fell asleep.


	2. A Family Bond

_**Warnings: Mentions of abuse, bad language, underage drinking, drug use and sexual situation**_

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A Family Bond

The past five days had been exhausting and stressful. Spike had spent the last five days in bed just trying to recover from his injuries. He had barely been conscious during the past five days. Angel had been giving Spike a mixture of his own blood and pig's blood. Angel knew that after the third day and Spike still wasn't waking up for longer than to drink and go back to sleep that Spike was more injured than he thought. Angel didn't have any way of knowing just how injured Spike was, because they couldn't go to a hospital and get him checked out. Spike would only know that something was wrong and not what was wrong with his organs. Vampires could normally only tell when one organ was missing and not what was wrong with them. Finally on the fifth day Angel walked in with a mug of pig's blood to see Spike awake and sitting up leaning against the pillows. He looked slightly better, but Angel could tell he was still in pain and weak. Angel was hoping Spike would be awake long enough so he could shower and get some of the dry blood off from his torso. Angel went over to the bed and handed Spike the mug of blood as he spoke.

"How are you feeling?" Angel asked as Spike took the mug into his hands. Angel could see them shaking slightly and he knew that Spike was still weak and in pain.

"You know how I'm feeling." Spike stated calmly as he slowly began to drink the blood.

Angel did know how he was feeling. The bond they once shared that had been severed had been restored almost to its full strength. With Angel's blood it had helped to restore the bond they once shared so strongly and now Angel and Spike could both feel what the other was feeling. They could block it out, but Angel was currently liking the comfort it had to offer him knowing that if Spike was in trouble or in pain he could feel it. Angel wasn't fooling himself he didn't think he would be able to keep Spike here. Eventually he was going to go back to Sunnydale for Dawn. Spike was a vampire, but he was still very much human in the love and loyalty department. Spike was loyal to Dawn and he considered her one of his own. He wasn't going to abandon her not yet anyways. Angel knew if there came a time when the abuse he received from Buffy was too much that he would be forced to leave, because Angel would make sure of it. He was going to be there for Spike, but he wasn't going to let Spike get himself killed by Buffy, especially when he can't even fight back.

Angel sat down on the side of the bed and faced Spike.

"I know, but I want to know how you are feeling. I know you are in pain I can feel it, but I can't read your mind you know that."

"You used to be able to. We used to be able to talk without saying a single word out loud. It's funny how you can forget things over the years, but then all of those things you forgot about come slamming back at you when something triggers it all."

Angel knew that Spike was talking just to get his thoughts in order. Spike could talk anyone to death, but Angel knew that most of the time it wasn't just so he could hear his own voice. Spike was a people person always has been, which is rare for a vampire. Spike enjoyed conversations. He enjoyed intelligent conversations even though he hid his true intelligence very well. He did have his moments when it showed and it always shocked people. In order to survive Spike had to recreate himself and leave William behind, but every now and then William would appear reminding Angel just how unique Spike truly is. Spike wasn't looking for a lecture right now. He wasn't looking for someone to tell him what to do. He was looking for someone to just have a conversation with. Someone that will help him try to figure out what to do. Someone that would support his decision no matter what it was and Angel knew he had to be that person, because no one else was going to be.

"Darla used to be get mad about it. We never could until that one night we got so drunk we slept together and fed at the same time from each other. Darla and I used to do it all the time and it never strengthened our bond. All it took was one time with you. One very, very drunk night." Angel said trying to sound like it wasn't a big deal that he didn't even care about it.

The problem was Angel did remember it very clearly. He remembered how being with Spike for just that one night, it was better than any night he had ever spent with anyone in his entire existence and that scared the hell out of him. It still does to this day. Angel knew that if something ever happened and they had slept together again he wouldn't have to worry about his soul, because sleeping with a vampire wasn't the same as sleeping with a human. He loved Buffy, but the curse was designed for total happiness with a human. Angel had been in love with Darla and they slept together after his soul and it never bothered him. It was the human part that was the problem with the gypsy's spell, because two vampires can never be truly happy together in the universe's theory anyways. Angel knew otherwise. He had seen many vampire couples that mate and they are truly happy with each other until the day when one of them dies and usually the other follows very quickly, because of the mating claim. Angel didn't know what Spike thought about that night, but it seemed like the perfect time to bring it up.

"That's the night Darla began to hate me, truly hate me anyways. She always never liked me too much, but after that she hated me. The next night she kicked my ass when she sent you out to find Dru. She was right pissed, said that I wasn't going to take you away from her. She started talking crazy about how I was your favorite and she wasn't going to let me replace her. I told her she was right daff. That she was your Sire and you had a bond that no one could touch. That Dru was your favorite certainly not me."

"I didn't know that. I knew she wasn't happy with you I could tell, but I didn't know she hurt you."

"Saw a different side to her I did is all. It's water under the bridge or whatever. I would have left once you got your soul, but she would have been alone. It didn't seem right family and all that. She just got worse and then after I killed that Slayer in the rebellion and you came and went I decided to take Dru and get the hell out of dodge. She became too much to handle. She always blamed me for your leaving and your curse said I should have been able to stop it somehow. I didn't even know it had happened don't see how I could have stopped it, but she didn't care to elaborate on it. It don't matter, long time ago it was." Spike said before he took another sip from the mug.

"It wasn't your fault that I was cursed. I shouldn't have messed with them and you said that. You never did like gypsies and you were right about them. At the time I hated it, but now I'm glad that I was cursed, because I have been able to truly help people and not just maim and kill them. I was never a pure soul before I was a vampire, but I have had the chance to make a difference in a positive way now. It will never change what I have done, but it helps make it more barely knowing that I can stop it from happening to other people."

"I can get that. I don't have a shiny soul, but the chip made me not be able to hurt any human. Now I work with them to fight demons. Some days I feel fine, but some days I can feel that guilt and remorse for some of the things I've done. Being around the humans have been reminding me that they aren't just food. They all have lives and people they care about and care about them, like I used to before Angelus sired me."

"It's hard when you first realise that at one point you used to be like them until some demon came and killed you. Made you into something you never thought you would be. Something you would have been disgusted by and hated. When I first got my soul I felt like I was in mourning of the person I was before Darla killed me." Angel admitted. He didn't tend to talk about this, but he could tell that Spike was confused and needed to talk. Angel always felt like he could talk to Spike when they were traveling the world together. Angel couldn't believe how easy it was to go back into that normal routine of a conversation with Spike.

"Sometimes I think about what it would be like to have my soul again. I know I would probably be insane with remorse and guilt, but when that clears up I wonder what it would be like. If I would still be the same or if I would be more like William then Spike."

"You wouldn't change much I don't think. You already have a lot of human traits to you that most vampires don't have. I don't think you would change too much it would just keep your demon in complete control until you let it out. You can also feel all emotions that you normally wouldn't be able to. Darla was right about one thing though." Angel said casually.

"What's that?"

"You are my favorite Childe and my biggest regret. The problem is I regret turning you, killing you. At the same time though I'm glad that I did, because I got to spend decades knowing you. I know we've gone back and forth hating each other and hurting each other, but I am glad we've got to spend the time that we have with each other. Spike I would really like to try and be a family again. I know Darla and Dru are gone, but I want us to at least try and be a family again. I do miss having you around and in my life." Angel said honestly. He didn't know how Spike felt or how he would react to it, but at least he was being honest. After everything that Spike had been through in the past two years he did deserve that much.

"I missed you too as much as I hate to admit that. You're the only person that I can just be myself around. I miss having that. I've missed you even though you drive me crazy." Spike said with a small smirk.

"I drive you crazy? I'm the one that had to put up with all your crap as a fledging. You never could listen. You always had to do things the hard way you couldn't just take my word for it." Angel said with false annoyance.

"You said I couldn't kill a Slayer and yet I've killed two and you haven't killed any. I'm a Master Vampire I think I turned out bloody fine."

"You are a Master Vampire and you got that title when you were young. It gave us a very unorthodox Sire and Childe relationship that's for sure. I couldn't control you like I could with Dru or Penn. I know I've never said it, but we are equals Spike. I'm not going to try and control you. I do think we need to talk about this situation with Buffy and what you plan on doing. You've been asleep for five days straight pretty much except to feed."

"Wait I've been out for five days?" Spike asked with concern and shock to his voice.

"You have. You were a lot more inured then we thought you were. You would have died this time around Spike."

"Shit. I need to call the Niblet I was supposed to go and see her the day after I left. She's probably wondering where I am. I need to talk to her and tell her I'm alright." Spike said with concern to his voice.

"You can use my phone to call her." Angel said as he pulled out his cell phone and handed it to Spike.

Spike couldn't help the surprised look on his face at the fact that Angel had a cell phone.

"What?" Angel asked when he saw the surprised look to Spike's face.

"You hate technology. I had to teach you how to drive a bloody car and you kept crashing them into rivers. You Mr. I Hate Keeping Up With The Times, have a cell phone?"

"Cordelia made me get it when we first opened so she could reach me if something happened. And I don't hate technology I'm just not like you. I don't want to know how it all works. The cell phone made sense and it's good that I have it. Plus I am a much better driver now it just took me a little while to get the hang of it." Angel said in his own defense.

"Does that mean you use computers now?"

"Not unless I have to and it's rare when I have to. Don't tell me you know how."

"Of course I know how, they've been around for a decade mate. You know me new technology comes out I'm all over it. Even heard they make windows now with tempered glass so you can't burn up from the sun."

"That I should look into. It would be nice to go downstairs and not have to worry about setting on fire."

"See mate keeping up with the times not such a bad thing." Spike said before he finished the rest of the blood and put the mug down on the bedside table.

He used Angel's cell phone and called Dawn's cell phone so he wouldn't run the risk of talking to Buffy. He knew he was going to eventually have to talk to her, but he just wasn't ready for that yet. After finding out that he had spent the last five days basically unconscious he wasn't ready to face the fact that if he had been alone he would have died because of her. This time around she took it too far and it almost cost him his life. After three rings Dawn answered.

"Hello?"

"Niblet, hey."

"Oh my God Spike, are you okay? What happened? Where are you?" Dawn asked in a hushed rush voice, letting Spike know she wasn't alone wherever she was. Spike figured she was up in her room and Buffy was either in her own room or downstairs.

"Calm down Little Bit I'm fine. I'm sorry I wasn't there the other night like I said I would be. Something came up and I had to leave town for a few days. That's all I didn't mean to worry you Bit."

"Is everything okay? Are you safe? I could see if Buffy could help if it's some baddie."

"Everything is fine Bit. No need to tell big Sis alright. I'll be back within ten days. I'm just gonna lay low for a bit, let things calm down is all. I'll be back soon and I'll make it up to ya."

"But you're safe right?"

"Ya Bit I'm safe don't worry about little old me. You just focus on your school work ya."

"I know, I know. I'm glad you are ok. I thought you might have been killed."

"It takes a lot to kill me Bit, don't worry about that. How are things down there? You being looked after?"

"Ya I mean everything is okay around here. Oh Buffy found out who killed that Katrina girl. Apparently it was Warren the robot guy. He killed her, but Buffy took care of it. Well she didn't hurt him, but we now know what was making her time go all wonky. So at least we know who the bad guys are right now. It's only a matter of time until Buffy comes up with a plan for them."

"Good I'm glad that is sorted then. She treating you alright?"

"Ya I mean she's not here a lot. She's been working and then patrolling. She must not have gone by your place, because she hasn't said anything to me about you being gone. She seems to be ok I mean she's stressed from working, but that's nothing new. She's gone most of the time. Willow and Tara might be working things out though. So that's good."

"That is good Pet. I hope they figure it out. They make a good set Red and Glenda do."

"Ya they do. Are you sure you are okay though Spike. You sounds like you're hurt."

"Naw I'm not hurt Pet. I'm just tired. I'll be back in Sunnydale soon don't worry and then we can hang out like we were supposed to do."

"I'll hold you to that Spike. A new movie is coming out in a couple of weeks, maybe we can go and see it."

"Sure thing Pet. I got to go I'll call you in a couple of days to check in."

"Ok Spike. Be safe."

"You're the one that needs to be safe Pet. Don't go into any cemeteries or dark alleys alone."

"I won't I promise. I'll see you in a week or so."

"See ya soon Niblet."

"Bye Spike."

Spike hung up the cell phone and then handed it back to Angel. He knew that Angel had heard the whole conversation so he didn't need to tell him about Buffy. Just like he also knew a conversation was coming up.

"I know I can't talk you out of leaving here and going back to Sunnydale, but that doesn't mean I'm not going to try like hell to." Angel said in a deadly serious voice.

"I can't just abandon the little Bit Angel. I have to go back it's the right thing to do."

"And I am accepting that you feel this way. I don't want you going back there though for at least another ten days. I want you here where I know you are eating enough and getting your strength back. I want you healthy before you go back there."

"Didn't really have anywhere else to go." Spike said with a small shrug.

"Good. What are you going to do once you get back? What about money for blood? What about Buffy?"

"I'll get a job doing something to pay for the blood. I always figure it out."

"And Buffy?"

"What about her?"

"What are you going to do when she sees you? What are you going to do when she shows up looking for more than just information?"

"I don't know."

"Spike you can't keep seeing her."

"I know, but I can't avoid her either. I have to be there for Dawn I can't just leave her on her own Angel. I promised her I would always be there for her I can't break that promise. When I see Buffy I'll figure it out. I won't be sleeping with her if that helps any."

"It's not you sleeping with her that concerns me. I don't want to think about it, but it's not my main concern. You can't defend yourself against her Spike or any human. I don't like knowing that you are completely helpless against any human's attack. She almost killed you this time around Spike. If you had been alone you would have died. My blood is what saved you not pig's blood. I don't want that to happen to you again Spike."

Spike could hear the fear and concern in Angel's voice and if that wasn't enough he could feel it through their strengthening bond. Spike would normally feel annoyed and frustrated that Angel thought he couldn't protect himself, but right now it felt amazingly good to know that someone out there would miss him if he was dead. Someone cared about him. Someone that knew everything he had done in his past and still care about him touched Spike more than he wanted anyone to know.

"Of course I care about you Spike. You are my Childe, my favorite Childe. I'll always care about you no matter what you have done in the past or will do in the future. Nothing is going to change that. I know you can protect yourself against any demon, but you not being able to protect yourself against a human worries me. Buffy has the strength to kill you if you can't even defend yourself against her." Angel said as he felt what Spike was feeling.

"I can block her punches and dodge them, but that's about it. She usually doesn't hold back with her punches or kicks though so it only takes one blow to get through and she usually has me. I'll just be careful she might have had a change of mind by then. We don't know what she's thinking. Whatever Warren did to her could have made her react the way that she did the other night." Spike said trying to sound hopeful.

"You know that's not true. You said so yourself that Buffy has hurt you before. Taken advantage of you before." Angel said calmly.

"She hasn't taken advantage of me. I never said no flat out." Spike said even though he knew it was a lame excuse.

"Did you tell her not tonight? Did you tell her that you weren't in the mood? Did you tell her that you were in too much pain to?" Angel asked calmly just trying to get Spike to realize the situation he was in. Angel knew that Spike understood what was going on, but like so many other abuse victims he was making excuses for Buffy. He was trying to convince himself that the situation wasn't as bad as others saw it as.

"Ya, but if this Warren bloke has been messing around with her mind it might not have been her fault. She might not have even known she was doing it. This is Buffy we're talking about here. There has to be a reason."

"And if there isn't? If she's like this because of what happened to her, can you handle that? Can you keep going on like this being hurt and used?"

"It's not her fault Red and them idiots brought her back. They should have known better than to play around with dark magic and life and death. They should have known better that even though it was a Hell portal she was too good to go to Hell itself. It's not her fault they dragged her out of Heaven and she woke up in her grave. Anyone would have problems after that." Spike said in Buffy's defense.

"I'm not saying she wouldn't have problems after that. She's been through a traumatic experience, but that doesn't give her the right to hurt you like this. Spike, I'm not saying that she can't get better. I'm not saying that you should stay here and not go back. I'm just saying that you can't keep letting her do this to you. You don't deserve it and she has no right to hurt and use you like this. Stick up for yourself like you always have and if you ever need me or anything I'll be right here."

"I appreciate it mate. I really do. If it wasn't for Dawn I would probably stay, but I can't do that to her. She needs me and I promised her I would be there. I can't just walk away. I know that seems unlikely coming from a soulless demon, but she's like a little sister to me. I love her and I can't just abandon her."

"Having no soul never stopped you from loving someone. You loved Dru completely for a century. You've always been able to love. Those human emotions that vampires have to relearn over decades, you were turned still with those emotions. It's what makes you so rare and unique Spike. It's what makes you win when you fight. You don't need a soul to love or to protect you've proven that. I understand why you won't leave Sunnydale. I am hoping that you'll visit at least."

"Same goes to you mate."

"I'll be down to check in on you and Dawn. I never really got to spend much time with Dawn when I was there. She was almost always at her dad's place or I guess she wasn't, being the Key and all. Makes sense that I wouldn't have any memories of her now that I think about it." Angel said just fully realising what Dawn truly is.

"She's a sweet bird. She's my Niblet. She gets A's in school and she has this one friend Janice who I don't care for too much, but she's her best girlfriend in the whole world, according to Dawn." Spike said with a smile.

"You two got really close when Buffy was dead eh?"

"Someone had to be there for her like I said the first night I was here. No one was there for her. They never said it, but I think part of them blamed Dawn for it all. It was Dawn that Glory was after. It was Dawn's blood that was needed to open and close the portal. Buffy died to save Dawn from having to be killed. The logical side of me understands that it's natural for them to blame Dawn. The emotional side of me knows that they are stupid to blame Dawn when it was Glory's whole plan to open the portal. I didn't blame Dawn for what Glory did to me that one day. It's bloody stupid to blame the victim in all of this."

"Wait, back-up. What do you mean what Glory did to you?" Angel asked with confusion to his voice.

"They didn't tell you that either eh? I guess I shouldn't be surprised they never told you about the bloody chip and Captain G.I. Joe. One day the Watcher decides to take Buffy out to the desert for this spiritual journey crap. Glory's minions grabbed me from my crypt and took me to Glory. They thought I was the Key. Glory being a Hell God knew I wasn't the Key, because I was a vampire. She tortured me to try and get me to tell her who the Key was. I was able to piss her off enough that when she kicked me the chains holding me to the ceiling gave away. I managed to get down the elevator when Buffy and the others showed up."

"They came to rescue you?" Angel asked slightly surprised that they would have back then.

"No I'm fairly certain they came to kill me before I told Glory that Dawn was the Key. I wouldn't have though. I would never have done that to Buffy or to the little Bit. Took a good month for those bruises to heal. I did at least earn some of Buffy's trust though and my Niblet was safe for a while so it was worth it."

"Jesus Spike. You were tortured by a Hell God. You're lucky she didn't kill you." Angel said with anger that Spike had been through so much and no one had bothered to tell him any of this.

"She nearly bloody did, but I wasn't going to give up the little Bit. She didn't deserve to be hurt. Just like she didn't deserve to be blamed for what happened to me or to Buffy. She didn't ask to be made into this mystical Key that unlocks a portal to Hell. She's just this fifteen year old girl trying to cope with everything."

"She's lucky to have you around Spike. She sounds like a great girl and I hope I can have the chance to get to know her. Though she might not like me after the going evil bit I did four years ago."

"She'll be fine. She might just be a little on guard around you. If I tell her you are alright she'll believe me. How are your people doing? Fighting the good fight down here in L.A. home to the stars." Spike asked looking for a change in topic away from himself and his own problems that he didn't want to think about right now.

"It's been interesting to say the least. Wolfram and Hart is the major player here."

"Who?"

"They are a law firm that deals with demons and evil itself. They have been trying to kill us when we make too much noise for them. We fight on opposite sides so it's always interesting when they come up with a new plan to kill us."

"Well that sounds like fun." Spike said sarcastically.

"It has its moments. Most of the time we take clients who are having a problem with demons and we handle it. I still go out at night and patrol the streets killing vamps and demons that are trying to hurt someone. Gunn is also a demon fighter so he goes out on the nights that I don't. Wesley and Fred deal with the research part of our investigations and Cordelia deals with the clients and the money. She also gets visions now of when someone is being hurt and needs help from us."

"How did she get those?"

"The Powers That Be, gave them to her. It's a long story, but if you hear her scream that would be why."

"Scream?"

"It causes her to have a migraine or headache for a little while. She usually screams out when it happens and then in a few hours she's fine again."

"So she sees when something is happening to someone and then you go and stop it?"

"Basically. Sometimes it takes a little bit to figure out. She can see around the area, but it's not always easy to figure out the area. We can usually get there in time. Her vision is before it happens not while it's happening. It's not always when someone is being hurt sometimes she sees things that are related to an apocalypse and we can get prepared."

"That's bloody helpful. Could of used her on the Hellmouth."

"She's handy to have plus she's very good with money."

"Helps when you have a hotel to pay for I suppose. You always did like a lot of space and the high end of life."

"The hotel was abandoned and cheap to buy. It works when we needed a safe place for all of us to be. Fred, Gunn and Cordelia also live here. And there is nothing wrong with liking the finer things in life. You used to when we were all traveling together."

"Now I live in a dark and damp crypt and up until recently slept on the ground or a tomb."

"That can't be comfortable."

"It isn't, but you get used to it. I found a mattress in the dump about eight months ago that I sleep on now. It's not so bad found a few things in the dump that work. It don't matter to me as long as Niblet is taken care of. Never really cared about anything except for keeping Dru safe and alive. Now I have to keep Niblet safe and alive."

"You have always been taking care of someone. Even when you were alive you took care of your mom for ten years. Putting her health and needs first before your own. Then it was Dru and now it's Dawn. Who makes sure you are taken care of?" Angel asked calmly.

"I can take care of myself. Been doing if for over a century now."

"I know, but taking care of yourself and being able to get what you need are two different things. Dawn can take care of herself, but she can't pay rent or get food without money. You can't get blood without money and you can't get money with the way the demon population has turned their back on you. It doesn't mean you can't take care of yourself it just means that one of them should be looking out for you. Blood isn't exactly expensive."

"It's fine I don't need anyone. I just need to save up some cash and start investing like I used to. You don't have to worry about me. I can take care of myself and the Niblet. I've done it before." Spike said as he could feel the concern in Angel through their bond.

"I know you can, but that doesn't change that I don't like it. You show up here in horrible shape. You almost died Spike and by Buffy's own doing. I don't like knowing you are going back there without any help from any of them. Do the others know what Buffy has been like?"

"No they don't. They haven't been paying much attention. They all felt guilty when they found out that Buffy was in Heaven and not Hell. She's just been putting up this act that she is fine so they won't have to worry. They are all so blind to what's right in front of them. She's just traumatize she'll get passed all of this and everything will be fine."

"And when she finds out you are back in town and comes knocking? Then what?"

"Then I'll talk to her and tell her that I'm not putting up with it. I'm not an idiot Angel. If it wasn't for the Niblet I would leave, but I can't do that to her. Someone has to be there for her. I'll be fine."

"Alright, but if you need anything you call me."

"I will."

"Alright, do you feel up to taking a shower? You need to get that dry blood off of you."

"Shower would be good." Spike said with a nod.

Angel stood up and Spike took the blanket off from his legs. Angel went to Spike's duffle bag and took out a clean t-shirt and pants. He turned back around to see that Spike had his legs over the edge of the bed, but he hadn't gotten up yet. Angel went over to Spike and placed the clothes down on the bed.

"Do you think you are up for this?" Angel asked with concern to his voice.

Spike had only just woken up and had been able to talk for the first time in five days. As simple as a shower is it would still take a lot out of him.

"I need to shower."

"Ok let me help you up then."

Angel grabbed onto Spike's right arm gently and very carefully helped Spike to his feet. Spike's legs weren't used to being used after spending five days in bed. He was a little shaky, but they made it over to Angel's bathroom that was connected to his room. Spike leaned against the counter while Angel went to turn the shower on. Once the water was warm enough Angel turned his attention back to Spike.

"Are you going to be okay by yourself?"

"I'll be fine." Spike said, but Angel knew he wasn't too sure himself.

"I'll be right outside. When you get out I want to look at your injuries and see how they are healing."

Spike just gave a nod and Angel headed back out of the bathroom and closed the door, but he made sure he left it open just a crack, just in case. Spike went and removed his jeans. It hurt to still bend with his ribs still being broken. Angel's blood had helped to get weight back on him, but even his blood wouldn't magically heal his wounds. Once Spike was able to get his jeans off he went into the shower and allowed himself to feel the heat of the water against his skin. The last time he had taken a hot shower was back when Buffy was dead and he was helping Dawn at the house. During the day Spike would take a shower before getting some sleep while Dawn was at school. It had been six months since then and Spike hadn't had a hot shower since. He didn't really have much of a bathroom in his crypt it was just a pipe with a seal so he could stop the water from flowing. The water was only cold so it did nothing to help with any aches and pains. Standing under the hot water was helping his sore muscles, but Spike knew he wouldn't be able to stand here for very long. He was already shaky from standing up so he knew he couldn't waste much time standing here. Spike quickly used the shampoo and got his hair cleaned before he worked on his torso. He was able to get the dry blood off from him before he was too dizzy to stand up anymore. He turned the water off and got out. He grabbed a towel to dry off and was able to put his jeans back on. He walked out and held on to the doorway as the room spun. When the room went back to normal Spike opened his eyes and saw Angel standing in front of him holding him up. Spike just gave a nod to let Angel know he was okay. Angel helped Spike walk back over to the bed and sat him down on it. Angel quickly looked at his injuries and he was glad to see that they were healing, but concerned that they weren't as healed as they should have been. A true sign that Spike's body had suffered without a steady amount of blood in him. The blood Angel had given him went to work on keeping Spike's body alive and as a result the injuries were neglected. Angel helped to get the t-shirt on Spike before Spike laid back down.

"You need blood." Angel said.

"I'm not hungry. I just want to sleep." Spike said with a shaky voice.

"Alright, but I'm waking you up in a few hours to feed. Just rest for now."

Angel watched as Spike's breathing evened out and he knew that Spike was asleep. He always thought it was funny that even after all of these years Spike still breathed like a normal human. Angel always found it relaxing to watch Spike sleep. To watch the rise and fall of his chest. Angel rubbed his hands against his face to get his mind to focus. He couldn't lose himself in Spike's breathing, because it only brought up old memories and old feelings he had thought long died away. Angel knew they had always had a complicated relationship between each other. Even when he sired Spike he didn't treat him like a normal Childe. He treated him like an equal, but he always made sure Spike knew he was in charge. They had fought a lot, but now it seemed like they had both evened out and they were no longer fighting each other over every decision. Spike was simply just being himself and allowing himself to seek advance from Angel. It was new for them and Angel found himself enjoying it. He found himself truly realising just how much he had missed Spike over the years. Now that Spike was here he didn't want Spike to leave, but he understood why he had to. Angel decided that he would get some sleep considering it was just passed sunset. He knew that if something came up tonight that the others would come and get him. Angel got changed and then crawled into bed next to Spike once again.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

It was just a little after eight when Buffy had left to go patrolling for the night. Dawn had barely said five words to her, because she just got home from work, took a shower, grabbed something to eat and then left again. Dawn knew that her sister was busy trying to provide and save the world and all that, but that didn't change that she wished her sister would spend a little time with her. It's not like she couldn't take a night off from patrolling when Spike was in the city. Spike patrolled every night to begin with because he wanted the fights. Buffy didn't have to go out there too every night. She just wanted one night a week where her and Buffy could curl up on the couch and watch movies like they used to before their mom died. Everything had been crazy in the past year and a half that Dawn felt like she didn't belong anywhere. Even after Buffy died the others just ignored her, except for Spike. Dawn knew that if it wasn't for Spike she probably would be dead by now either from starvation or some vampire got her one night when she was alone walking back from Janice's. Spike had been there to protect her and make sure she had food and her bills were paid. There was no way she would have been able to do it without any money and Willow and Tara seemed to be too lost in their own world to notice. Dawn had been so happy when Buffy was brought back she thought everything would go back to normal only it didn't. Things seemed to be worse because now Spike wasn't allowed to be here anymore and Buffy seemed to be distant and overworked now. Dawn had been so lonely she had resorted to stealing just to make herself feel better. She was hanging out at Janice's more and more and sneaking out to parties. Dawn knew what she was doing was wrong, but she just couldn't bring herself to care.

Dawn headed over to her closet and pulled out a short mini-skirt and a halter top. She got dressed and put on high healed black boots before she did her hair and make-up. Once she was ready she grabbed a leather jacket that she stole and headed out the front door. Tonight was Friday and she was going to go with Janice to a college party that she was invited to. Dawn had been to other parties, but never a college party before. She knew Buffy would freak if she ever found out, but she never would because she just didn't care anymore. Dawn figured if everyone else didn't care then she wasn't going to care. It wasn't like she mattered anyways. She was never supposed to exist after all. Dawn got to Janice's house and she didn't knock. She knew that Janice was sneaking out so she waited behind the bushes until Janice came around and saw her. They both smiled and headed down the street quickly to the car that was waiting for them. Their other friend Chris had been the one to invite them and he was going to drive them to the party and back home. Chris was a senior in high school and he was going to be going to this college come the fall so he was already making a name for himself in the college before he even got there. Chris smiled at them as they got into his car.

"Love the outfit Dawnie. No one will know that you are underage at all." Chris said with a smile and a wink at her through the rear-view mirror.

"You said to look hot so I did." Dawn said with confidence back. She didn't care tonight. Tonight she was going to have fun no matter what. She was sick of not belonging anywhere and tonight she was going to belong.

"I hope you guys are ready for one hell of a party. These college people don't play around you know. I'm talking about some serious liquor and drugs are going to be going around. If you guys want to fit in and be taken seriously to get invited back you are going to have to go along with it. I had to the first time I went and now they always invite me to everything. I'm talking about beach parties and going to ski cabins. Trips to Vegas and New York together. If you want to be included in all of that shit you can't act like freshmen. You have to act like college kids." Chris said.

"We're ready. Aren't we Dawnie?" Janice said as she turned to look at Dawn.

"I'm beyond ready. I'm so sick of not belonging anywhere. It's about time I found some people who will care." Dawn said with a serious tone to her voice.

"You do what they do and you'll find people who won't just abandon you when they feel like it. They treat each other like family there." Chris said.

"Can't wait." Dawn said.

They drove down to where the college party was located. It was in a house and you could hear the music coming from the house down the block. Dawn was stocked for this. She was sick of Buffy's friends all leaving her to her own devices. Tonight she was going to go and find her own family. Chris didn't have much of a family and since he had been coming to these parties he was always talking about how great they were. How they would have dinner together once a week and they would throw parties and just enjoy spending time together. After a few conversations Dawn didn't even care that Chris had been drinking, doing drugs and doing some small time crimes like stealing and vandalizing. Dawn could tell that Chris was happy and Dawn wanted to feel like that. She wanted memories of a family that were actually real and not what a bunch of monks made up. They parked the car and they all got out and headed towards the house. Chris just opened the door and they walked in to a huge group of people. They were all over the two-story house. The music was banging and Dawn could see that everyone was drinking. Some people in the living room were doing lines of cocaine on the coffee table and others were smoking pot around the house. Dawn couldn't believe just how many people were here, but she didn't care. The bigger the better in her mind. They headed into the kitchen to get a drink and in the kitchen there were guys and girls playing poker at the table. Chris grabbed them all a drink. He grabbed a beer for himself and grabbed two vodka coolers for the girls.

"Hey Chris, who do you have with you tonight?"

"Hey Jake, this is Dawn and Janice the girls I was telling you about. They needed a night out and away from all the bullshit. I hope that's cool." Chris said.

"No problem at all as long as they came here to party and not bring everyone down."

"Oh no we came to party." Janice said with a flirtatious smile.

"We'll see." Jake said back with a smirk.

"We were just about to play strip poker. Don't suppose either of you girls would be brave enough to join us." Another guy said.

"That's Andrew and I don't think they would be willing to pay the buy in." Jake said.

"And what would that be?" Dawn asked.

"For newbies it would be a line of coke and you have to start without a shirt." Jake said with a smirk.

"I'm in, but I should warn you, you're going to be the one naked and not me." Dawn said with confidence. Spike had taught her how to play poker and blackjack. He also taught her how to cheat at it without getting caught.

"Is that a fact now?" Jake said obviously interest as he leaned forward on the table.

"It's a guarantee." Dawn said back with a smirk.

"So where's the powder then?" Janice asked.

Andrew spoke as he pulled out a small baggie of white powder. "Right here sweetheart. Step on up."

Andrew put down two lines of coke and then they all turned to see if Dawn and Janice were going to actually do it. Dawn knew that all of this was a bad idea, but she couldn't bring herself to care. She wasn't going to be left out again. Dawn went over and without hesitation she snorted her line of coke and then stepped back so Janice could as well. Dawn then without a care took off her halter top and sat down in just her mini-shirt and strapless black bra. Janice did the same and they both smiled as Jake dealt the new hand. Chris headed into the living room to socialize now that he knew the girls were in.

It wasn't until two hours later did the poker game end. Everyone, but Dawn and Jake were naked, but they were all too drunk and high to care. Every thirty minutes someone was bringing out a baggie for everyone to snort a line. For Dawn and Janice that were new to drinking and drugs they were both stoned and drunk. Dawn had only her underwear on and so did Jake. Jake couldn't help but smile at how good Dawn was at poker. Once everyone else was naked Jake spoke up.

"I think it's time for Dawnie and me to go upstairs to my room and play some one on one poker. What do you say cutie?"

"Bring it on." Dawn said as she stood up and swayed a little.

Together they both headed upstairs to Jake's room. Once in the room Jake locked the door and didn't waste a second before he kissed Dawn. Dawn was drunk and high, but she wasn't stupid she knew this is what Jake wanted when he suggested they come upstairs. Dawn knew she had to fit in so she would be asked back and at this point she didn't care. Dawn kissed back not even caring when Jake went to work removing her underwear. Dawn removed Jake's boxers and then felt the bed underneath her. She knew she had never had sex before, but she wasn't stupid she knew how it worked and right now she felt too good to even care what this would mean. For the first time in her life she was just going to do whatever she wanted. It wasn't like anyone would care anyways. So she let Jake kiss her, touch her and fuck her for the next few hours before they both passed out on the bed. And in the morning when she got up to head back home with Janice she didn't even feel embarrassed or ashamed, because Jake had told her to come by that night for another party. Jake winked at her before Dawn left the room with the promise that she would be back that night and she was. When she came back that night she made sure she didn't wear any underwear this time under her mini-shirt and little crop top. This time when she came in she took two lines of coke and a shot of whiskey before she went over to Jake who was sitting at the poker table and straddled his lap and kissed him. She could feel his hard on and she smirked at him before getting off and headed up the stairs slowly. She made sure she removed her top facing the room showing everyone that she wasn't wearing a bra before she continued her way up the stairs with Jake following behind her. She wasn't going to lose this chance at belonging to something.


	3. Getting Back to Life

_**A/N: WARNINGS: Sexual situations and bad words.**_

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Getting Back to Life

It had been ten days since Spike had woken up. He had been able to regain a good amount of weight back to him since he had been here for the past two weeks. He still wasn't back to his full health or his normal weight, but he did look better. He only had a few bruises left and his ribs were almost completely set. He would still be sore for another two weeks, but he was at least able to defend himself against a demon. It wouldn't do him any good against Buffy, but Angel was hoping that Buffy would leave Spike alone now. Angel still didn't like that Spike was going back to Sunnydale, but he understood why. Dawn was important to Spike and he wanted to be there for her. Angel could respect that even if he didn't like it. Spike had always been loyal so it wasn't a surprise to Angel that he wanted to go back into the lion's den for Dawn. Most people thought that Spike couldn't be trusted or loyal to anyone, but he had a strong human quality to him that made him still very loyal to humans. If he considered you to be one of his own he would protect you until the end no questions asked. It's just how Spike was, it's just how William was. Angel was glad that the bond they shared had strengthened with the feedings that Angel had been giving Spike. After the first five days Spike didn't need it anymore, but Angel wanted to keep going so the bond would strengthen and Angel would know if something was wrong with Spike. He would know if Spike was struggling and needed his help. Spike could still block it out, but Angel was hoping that he wouldn't. Spike was up in the bedroom just getting his clothes put back into his small duffle bag. It was just after sunset and Spike knew he had to get going so he could get back to Sunnydale and back to his crypt. He was hoping Buffy wouldn't come by tonight so he could have some peace and quiet to himself. It wasn't that he hadn't enjoyed spending the past two weeks or the ten days that Spike was conscious for. He had enjoyed getting to know Angel's people and the feeling of belonging. Spike couldn't remember the last time he had felt welcomed among humans. Spike was expecting them to avoid him and give him dirty looks. They didn't though, they just treated him like he had always been there. It was a nice change for Spike and he found that he didn't want to leave, but Spike knew that he had to go back to Sunnydale for Dawn. Otherwise he probably would have stayed.

Once Spike had his bag packed he turned around to see Angel leaning against the doorframe. Spike knew that Angel had been there for the past couple of minutes as he packed, but he hadn't said anything. Once Spike turned around he could not only see the concern on Angel's face, but he could feel it from their bond as well.

"You all set?" Angel asked calmly.

"Ya I'm all ready to go."

"You know it's only two hours from here to Sunnydale you could stay for another ten hours if you wanted to." Angel said trying to sound casual.

"I know, but the longer I stay the harder it is to leave. It's too easy to spend another night here. I promised Dawn I would be there tonight so she could come by tomorrow after school. She was so excited I can't disappoint her and if I stay another ten hours I'm afraid I will. No one has really been around much these past two weeks and she's been on her own most nights. I can't do that to her, even though I really don't want to leave and go back to all that bullshit and drama." Spike said honestly.

"Ok I understand. I had Cordelia pick up some extra blood for you to take back with you. I also have this for you." Angel said as he pulled out a cell phone and handed it over to Spike. "It's already got time on it and the bill will come here every month that I'll take care of you don't have to worry about it."

"You didn't have to do this." Spike said gently and Angel knew that Spike wasn't upset, he was appreciative of the gift.

"I want to be able to talk to you at least once a week and I'll come down to visit and check in on you. I don't like that you are going back into that situation, but at least I know I can get a hold of you if something comes up. If you need to get away for a little while you come here no matter what. I've screwed up in the past with you and I'm not going to make that mistake again. We're family and I want us to act like it again, but as equals." Angel said honestly.

"Thank-you I appreciate it. I really do." Spike said genuinely.

"I know you do. Now this is for Dawn."

Angel said as he handed Spike a small brown bank envelope. Spike looked in the envelope and he couldn't believe how much money was in it.

"Angel I can't take this. I didn't come here to get money from you." Spike said honestly.

"I know you didn't and it's not for you, it's for Dawn. I overheard the conversation you had with her a few days ago about how the landlord came by to collect the rent. That Buffy hadn't paid the rent in two months. I know you told her you would take care of it. You have enough to worry about. I don't even want to think about what you would have to do to get the money. I don't want you getting killed doing some suicidal job for a demon to keep Dawn from the streets. Let me worry about the back rent please. It's not a big deal."

"I'll pay you back."

"You don't have to. It's for Dawn. She's become family to you so that makes her family to me. Don't worry about it Spike."

"Thank-you."

"There is one other thing and it's up to you if you want to do it." Angel said slightly unsure of how to approach this conversation.

"Ok, what is it?" Spike asked not liking the unsureness of Angel.

"I want to initiate a family claim on the both of us. We don't have to though, if you don't want to. I know you haven't had the best experience in the past with claims between Angelus and Drusilla. It's up to you Spike."

"What like a Sire/Childe claim?" Spike asked slightly confused.

"Sort of, only not with the ability to control. You're a Master Vampire you don't answer to anyone. It's a family claim we would both bite and say family and that would connect us fully again, minus the mind talking. It's you're decision Spike."

"Let's do it."

"Are you sure?"

"I want to, but are you sure you want to be connected me as family again?" Spike asked slightly unsure and trying to hide the fear of Angel's answer.

"I want to Spike, we're family and I'm not going to be ignoring it any longer. I've missed you and having you here these past two weeks have just showed me how much I've missed you. I want to, if you want to."

"I want to."

"Okay then. You ready?"

Spike just gave a nod.

Angel moved closer to Spike and he put his left hand on the right side of Spike's neck and he moved his mouth down to Spike's left side of the neck. Spike moved his mouth over to Angel's left side of his neck and he felt Angel kissing his neck before he started to suck bringing the blood to the surface. Spike began to do the same to Angel and when he felt Angel's fangs on his neck Spike let his fangs slid down as well. He barely felt Angel's fangs going into his neck and Spike slid his in slowly as well. They both took a few long pulls from each other before speaking family at the same time. They could both feel the bond strengthening and their connection becoming even stronger. They both removed their fangs and licked at the bite mark to close it. The mark would always be there to signify the claim. They moved their heads back, but Angel kept his face close to Spike's they could both feel the attraction going through each other and Spike was surprised when Angel gently placed his lips against his own. The kiss wasn't heated or rough, it was slow and passionate and intense. After a moment Angel pulled back and placed his left hand against Spike's bottom right check and his neck as he spoke.

"Be safe and keep in contact with me. I'll come down in a month or so to come and see you and Dawn."

"Ok. I'll start getting her warmed up to you." Spike joked lightly and Angel smiled at his attempt to make this conversation less serious.

"You will always be my Childe no matter what. If you need to get out then you come here. I don't care what it is that you think you did wrong or what happens you come here. I will never turn you away and I will always believe you. There is nothing you can do that will ever make me think less of you or disown you. You are my Childe until the end of time."

A single tear rolled down Spike's left cheek as he spoke. "Thank-you Sire" Spike said softly.

Angel rubbed his thumb against Spike's cheek and he could feel the strong desire in Spike to just curl back up in bed where he felt safe. He could feel the strong desire in Spike to never leave here. Angel could also feel the hurt and shock that Angel had said those things to him. Hurt that he had never heard anyone say anything remotely close to nice to him in decades. Spike was struggling to survive right now and Angel was more worried about letting Spike leave now more than ever. It was clear to Angel that Spike was feeling stressed and overwhelmed. He could also feel the slight fear in Spike at going back to Sunnydale and seeing Buffy. Spike had forgotten what it felt like to be treated as a person as something more than just some monster. The past ten days here had shown Spike that not everyone saw him as such. That people could treat him equally and not throw insults at him. It was all taking a toll on Spike and Angel didn't know how much longer Spike could continue this if it didn't end soon. Angel had plans to keep a very close eye on Spike to make sure he was doing alright. If not he was going to make sure he got out of there.

After a second Angel pulled his hand back and Spike wiped his left cheek away from the tear. Spike cleared his throat and then he spoke. "I really should get going."

"Ya right ok. Let's get you downstairs to say goodbye to everyone and then you can be on the road. Hopefully you don't hit traffic." Angel said casually.

"Ya that would just be my luck some thirty car pile-up on the highway be stuck for hours while they deal with that mess."

They both headed out of the room and down the stairs to see that everyone was hanging around the lobby waiting for Spike and Angel to come down to say goodbye. They both went downstairs and Spike said his goodbyes to everyone. He truly didn't want to leave, but he wasn't going to leave Dawn alone to deal with Buffy and everything else. She was counting on him and he wasn't going to let her down. Angel walked Spike out and over to his bike. Spike got on his bike and gave Angel a small smile.

"Be safe." Angel said.

"I'll do my best."

"Let me know when you get back so I know you made it. I'll call you in a few days and see how you are doing."

"You don't have to you know. I can take care of myself been doing it for decades." Spike said calmly and Angel knew that Spike didn't want him to feel obligated.

"I know you can. You have always been able to take care of yourself. I told you, I want to be a family again, that is if you want to be." Angel said calmly, but inside he was worried that Spike didn't truly want that. He wasn't going to force Spike to be a family together, but all they really had were each other. His team was like family to him, but being like family and being actual family were two different things.

"I do want to be. I always have even when I hated you. I'm glad we did the claim." Spike said and Angel could feel the sincerity in Spike through the bond.

"Me too. So let me know when you get back and I'll call you in a few days."

"I appreciate you letting me stay here for the past two weeks."

"Come by anytime Spike, you'll always have a room here. Same goes for Dawn."

"I'll see her tomorrow after school. I'll mention that. I might be able to figure out a way to sneak her away for the weekend."

"Anytime. It would be great to get to know her."

"I better get going. Make sure my crypt is still there." Spike said lightly.

"Ya ok. I'll talk to you soon then."

"Ya. Be safe."

"Always."

Spike started his bike and Angel moved back as Spike took off and headed for the road. Angel really didn't want to watch Spike leave, but he knew he couldn't make him stay. If Angel had asked him to stay and live there he knew Spike probably would, but he would feel guilty about it. He would feel guilty about leaving Dawn and Angel didn't want to be the cause of that guilt. He had hurt Spike more than enough in the past and he wasn't going to do it again. Angel was going to keep a closer eye on Spike and keep the bond open so he could feel is something was wrong. He also would be able to provide comfort to Spike if he was going through something through the bond. Angel headed back inside to his team to get the night going.

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Spike had arrived back to his crypt after four hours. He had hit some traffic along the way just like he had expected, but he was able to get back to his crypt without any problems. Spike put his bike back behind the crypt and he went in. He made sure to be very careful he didn't sense anyone inside, but he wanted to still be careful. So he went in slowly and made sure he paid attention to his senses as he checked everything out. He was happy to see that no one had destroyed anything or appeared to have moved in. Spike headed over to the fridge and he put the blood away that Angel had given him. He also took the money out of his duffle bag. Spike counted it and he noticed that there was an extra two hundred dollars. Spike couldn't help, but smile at the thought that Angel had snuck a little extra in. Spike knew he had to deposit it into his bank account so he could write a cheque for the landlord. Spike also needed to check in with the utility companies to make sure everything was paid up to date. Spike knew they wouldn't be. Spike pulled out his cell phone and sent Angel a text message letting him know that he had just gotten back to his crypt and everything was fine. Spike then dialed the utility companies to check on the status and amount owing. He had done this before in the past so he knew the numbers off by heart and the account numbers. After an annoying twenty minutes Spike found out that the utilities were a thousand dollars behind. Spike knew he would need to pay that before the companies decided to cut off the utilities. Spike figured he would take the extra two hundred and put it towards that thousand dollars. Spike knew he would need to go to the club to make some money and he was going to have to do it more so he could pay the rent and the bills every month. Spike knew he didn't have a choice he had to work at the club until he was able to find stable work within the community.

Spike went over to his secret hiding spot and he put the money inside it. The bank wasn't open tonight so he would have to go tomorrow through the sewers to deposit the money from Angel and from work tonight. Spike would then rest up before Dawn came over after school. Spike didn't want to do this, but he didn't have a choice so he grabbed his phone to see a text back from Angel.

'_Of course you would know how to text. I'm glad you are back safe and nothing was damaged.'_

'_I told you I keep up with the times. I'm surprised you know how to do this.'_

Spike let out a sigh and he headed out of his crypt and off to the club. He knew it wouldn't matter that he didn't have a schedule shift, because the owner always took him in. He was good money. What Spike hated was the more he was at the club working the more demons and vampires found out about it. He had already come across a few demons that thought they could get a piece of him outside of the club. Spike could kick their ass, but he couldn't kill them, because it would piss off the owner that his clients were being killed off by a Master Vampire. Spike could only defend himself against them and that pissed him off even more. He hated this feeling, but no one was doing anything to ensure that Dawn was being looked after. They had all been ignoring her and only Spike could seem to see it. Spike wasn't going to let Dawn be taken away or be living on the streets going hungry. She was his responsibility even though Buffy was back to being alive. Spike was going to take care of her, even if that meant he had to sell himself. He would keep that part from Angel. Angel wanted to be a family with him and Spike knew that if Angel found out about him being in the club he wouldn't want him in his family anymore. His Sire would reject him and disown him if he knew just how weak and pathetic he had become.

Spike arrived at the club and he headed over to the boss's office. He could feel everyone's eyes on him and Spike knew he would have a busy night, but that at least meant he would make some decent money tonight. He needed eight hundred and then he could stop for a day or two before going back. Spike knocked on the closed door and when he was granted permission Spike walked into the office.

The boss, a rather nasty looking demon that was famous for killing eight hundred pound demons with just one hit sat behind his desk. He smirked when he saw Spike walk in.

"Spike, what brings you by?" The boss smirked already knowing why Spike was here.

"I need some cash."

"Yes to take care of that disgusting human. I don't know why you don't just forget about her and work yourself back into the community. You could have an entire pack working for you. Instead you are foolishly working in here."

"And making you money so I'd shut your mouth if I were you." Spike said in a deadly tone.

"Fine be an outsider and a whore. As long as I get my money what the fuck do I care? Room five is free all night."

Spike didn't say anything he just left the office and headed down towards room five. Spike got into the room and it was just a single mattress on the floor with a small shitty looking bathroom just off from it, but it works to clean up afterwards. Spike started to remove his clothes as that was how it worked in this club. The clients didn't need to undress you, they expected you naked and ready to go. Spike saw that he had a text message from Angel and Spike couldn't help but feel the hurt that went through him knowing that Angel wouldn't be bothering with him if he knew just what he was about to do. Spike opened the text message to read quickly.

'_Cordy made me learn. She keeps trying to teach me the new technology. I don't see the point all of this technology will be different in another decade.'_

Spike couldn't help, but smile. Angel had always hated change within society. Spike remembered him going on and on about how driving was stupid and cars wouldn't be around, but they only got more advance. Spike knew that this technological world was only going to grow.

'_Cell phones aren't going anywhere Mate. They will just get smaller. Technology is the new tomorrow you just got to get off your horse and buggy and get use to it.'_

Spike removed the rest of his clothes and put the cell phone in his coat pocket just as the door to the room opened. Spike knew it was another vampire and he knew that by the end of this night he was going to hate himself. Spike didn't want Angel to feel anything through the bond so he blocked the bond off until tomorrow when he would be back in his crypt.

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The next day it was just after four and Spike was waiting for Dawn to arrive. She was coming over after school and Buffy wasn't aware of it. Spike had been able to make eight hundred last night so he had gone to the bank earlier that morning when the sun wasn't too high in the sky when the bank first opened. He was able to deposit all of the money and he found out that he could pay the bills through the bank instead of using cheques so all of the rent and utilities were paid up, or would be tomorrow by the time everything was processed. Dawn was taken care of for the next week until the first of the month came and rent was due again. Spike had blocked off his emotions from Angel last night, but he still texted him after each client. Angel had been sleeping all day and Spike knew he would be awake soon. Spike was trying to get his emotions under control, but he couldn't help the way he was feeling. He felt dirty and disgusting. Not to mention a little light headed, because of all of the blood he loss last night. The sex was brutal. It always was. The brutality of the sex always brought up unpleasant memories of Angelus and him when he was a fledging. Spike knew that Angelus was not Angel and Angel had felt remorse and horrified by his demon's actions. Spike knew it wasn't Angel that had done those things to him, but it still hurt. That one night they had spent together had been the best sex Spike had ever felt, even though he was drunk he could still clearly remember the feeling of being cared for a safe. Something Spike had never truly had. Spike knew he would never have those feelings again and he found that, that hurt almost more than anything else. Spike knew he had to try and get these emotions buried down before Dawn got here or she would be able to tell something was bothering him and he didn't want to keep lying to her. He also didn't want Angel to feel them and think something had happened. Spike had sent Angel a few texts last night before he had lied and said he was going to bed. Talking to Angel in between clients was getting to be too hard on him so he had lied to keep Angel from worrying about him. He hadn't texted Angel all day, but he figured that Angel would text him later when he got up. Spike didn't sleep much during the day today and he knew he should have, but he just couldn't bring himself to do it. He had to go back to the club tonight to start getting money together for the first of the month. He also needed to get some money together so he could invest it and start making money that way.

Spike knew he just needed to hold out and hopefully Buffy wouldn't be coming around him very often. Spike still didn't know what he was going to do about her. He truly didn't. Spike started to clean up as his place was getting dirty from him being gone for two weeks. He couldn't help, but feel like he was just living out of a hole in the ground. After being in the hotel for two weeks Spike realised that it had been a long time since he had an actual place to call home. Even with Dru they didn't have a house, not since they left Angel and Darla decades ago. Spike found himself wanting to have a house again, wanting to have a home. A real home. Spike could feel the depression sneaking up on him and he forced it down. Dawn was going to be there soon and he wasn't going to show her anything that would make her worry. She had her own problems and he wasn't going to give her anything else to worry about. Spike was taken out of his thoughts when his phone buzzed. Spike looked down and saw that there was a text from Angel. Spike opened the text to read it.

'_Are you alright?'_

'_Ya fine.'_

Spike had been blocking his feelings from Angel the whole time and Spike was hoping that some wasn't leaking through regardless of him blocking them. Spike felt his phone vibrate and he opened the text.

'_Are you sure? I felt something weird coming from you. Is everything alright? Have you seen Buffy?'_

'_I'm fine, just cleaning up for the Niblet. She's coming by after school. I'm just a little worried about what she'll ask. I haven't seen Buffy yet.'_

Spike didn't want Angel to worry about him. He could figure this out. He had survived this long on his own and he could continue to do it on his own. Spike finished cleaning up before he sat down in his chair and waited for when Dawn would be there. Spike opened the new text message from Angel.

'_What are you going to tell her about why you were away? Let me know when you see Buffy please.'_

'_I'll just tell her I had to take a break for a couple of weeks. I'll tell her I was down there with you, but I'll leave out the injuries. I'll let you know when I see Buffy. Don't worry I can take care of myself.'_

Spike's reply came a few moments later.

'_I know you can take care of yourself, but I still worry.'_

'_I know you do, but you don't need to. I can handle myself. Thanks again for the money the landlord has been paid now. I really appreciate it.'_

Spike looked up as the door to his crypt opened and Dawn came walking in. She smiled when she saw him and she closed the door and ran over to him to give him a hug. Spike wrapped his arms around her and just breathed her in. He had missed her and it felt so good to be able to hug her again.

"I missed you." Dawn said into Spike's chest.

"I missed you too Niblet." Spike held onto her even tighter and after a moment they pulled back from each other.

Spike's phone vibrated and Dawn looked down at it on the arm of the chair. She looked up at Spike with a smile on her face.

"Is that a cell phone? You have a cell phone now?"

"It's mine. I'll give you the number and you can text or call me whenever you want."

"This is awesome that you have a cell phone. Now I don't have to wait for you to call me. I can just text you like when Buffy is being a bitch. Where did you get it and who is texting you?"

"Angel gave it to me and that is Angel texting me right now." Spike said as he picked up the phone.

"Angel? You saw Angel and didn't kill him seriously?" Dawn asked shocked.

"It's a long story I'll tell you after. Right now I am more interested in what you have been up to." Spike said as he opened the text message.

'_I told you that money is for Dawn. Don't even worry about it. She's family now. Let me know how she is.'_

"Come on sit down. Are you hungry?"

"Not yet, maybe later." Dawn said as she sat down in Spike's chair and Spike sat down on the couch.

"What have you been up to?" Spike asked.

"Not much just going to school and hanging out with Janice. Buffy's been a total bitch and Willow and Tara are working it out so they haven't been at the house much. It's pretty much been just me and Buffy, but she's not really talking much."

"What about demon girl and the Whelp? They haven't been around?"

"They have been planning the wedding and working at the shop. I haven't been there in a couple of weeks, because there was no point. Buffy has been working and then patrolling. I don't really see her much."

"So you've been alone basically for the past two weeks. I'm sorry Niblet."

"It's not your fault. You're entitled to be away. What even happened why did you leave so fast? I was worried something happened to you."

"I'm sorry I meant to call you sooner, but I wasn't able to. I just needed to get out of the city. It wasn't really safe and now it's all been taken care of."

"And you went to Angel? I don't understand you guys hate each other. Hey wait a second what is that on your neck? Is that a bite did he bite you?" Dawn asked with anger and worry.

"Yes he bit me, but it's fine I bit him too. It's complicated."

"Well I'm listening." Dawn said with her arms cross her chest.

"I just started driving and the sun was coming up so I went to L.A and to his place. We worked it out. There's been some bottled up feelings and we were able to talk about em and work it out. He gave me the phone so we could keep in contact with each other. And then we claimed each other. There are different vampire claims out there and we did one to signify family to rebond ourselves as a family to each other. It means a lot and it's hard to understand if you're not a vampire. He's really not all that bad. I was tellin' him about you." Spike said with a small smile.

"Oh really? What did you say?" Dawn asked slightly nervous.

"That you were amazing. What did you think I told him?" Spike said with a smile.

"I don't know that I'm annoying." Dawn said back with a smile.

"You're not annoying. I love you like a sister Niblet. He wants to get to know you. He invited us to come down there whenever we wanted. He works out of a hotel so there's lots of room."

"Really? He wants to get to know me?" Dawn said surprised.

"Why does that surprise you so much?" Spike asked concerned.

"It's just people don't really want to get to know me. It's usually all about Buffy and Angel was like her first love and all of that. I just didn't think he would want to bother getting to know me when him and Buffy aren't together anymore."

"You are amazing Niblet. Of course he wants to get to know you. Anyone who wouldn't are just stupid and not worth your time." Spike said in a serious voice.

"Thanks." Dawn said with a small smile.

"Now what have you and Janice been up to?"

"Nothing." Dawn said as she rolled her eyes.

"Nothin' huh, why don't I believe you?"

"Nothing crazy. We went to a party last weekend that was awesome. I made a few new friends which is nice."

"As long as they are good people and not trouble makers."

"They aren't they are awesome. I'm meeting with them later on tonight to hang out and watch a movie."

"Where is this?"

"At Janice's and yes her mother will be there. Don't worry. What about you? Any plans tonight?"

"I have some work I need to do."

"Work, work or like kill demons work?"

"Work, work. I'll be busy all night, but I'll have my phone on me so I can text you back if you text me, but it might not be right away."

"That's okay I'm just gonna chill and watch some movies. No big deal. Have you seen Buffy yet?"

"No not yet. I'm sure I'll see her eventually."

"So you see it too huh?"

"See what?"

"See that she's not the same. No one else sees it, but I mean she wasn't like this before. She doesn't smile, she doesn't just want to hang out anymore. She's not the same. It's like her body came back to life, but she didn't." Dawn said sadly.

"She's just going through some stuff right now. It's not going to be easy to get over what happened to her Niblet. Just give her some time."

"But no one else sees it. They all think everything is just great."

"They want to see what they want to see. Just give her some time and be patient with her. She's been through a lot Niblet. If you ever need a place to go or to talk you know you can always come to me."

"I know, but I miss her. She died and then she comes back and I still feel like she's dead." Dawn said sadly.

"I know it hasn't been easy on you Niblet. I'm sorry I was away for these past two weeks. I'm gonna be in town for a good long time now and if I leave to go back to L.A for a visit I'll bring you with me."

"You might go back? This is totally weird. All I have ever known is that you both hate each other and now you are wanting to visit him and have an impression of his teeth on you."

"He's family. Family isn't always pretty and when you have been family for over a hundred years things can pile up. We were both evil when we became family and that didn't help. It's been a long time and we want to be a family again a proper one. We're both fighting on the same side of good. He didn't even know about the chip or anything. We talked for a long time."

"How does it feel? I mean you've been without family for years now. How does it feel to have him back in your life? He's your Grandsire or something right?"

"He's my Sire and it feels good actually to have him back in my life. It's been lonely without having someone there that understands being a vampire. It's also nice to know that he knows everything I've done and he doesn't hate me for it. He understands and it's really nice to have someone that can understand."

"Ya I get that. It couldn't have been easy being the only vampire in the group. It's hard to understand what it's like being one without actually being one. I get that. Well if you say he's cool then I'll give him a chance."

"Thanks Niblet. That means a lot to me. You're important to me and I wouldn't want you in a position where you were uncomfortable being around someone."

"I'm sure it'll be fine. Plus I've never been to L.A so it would be awesome to go and see it. Plus he has people working for him too so it would be cool to meet more people who understand this life. I can't really talk about it with my friends."

"I know that's not easy for you. I'm here for you though no matter what we'll get it through it."

"It's really great having you back. I've missed you."

"I've missed you too sweet Bit. Now when is this movie night?"

"Um it's at eight."

"Well the sun is going down and it's safe for me to be outside. Why don't we go and grab some dinner and then I'll drop you off."

"Ya okay sure. Where do you want to go?"

"Lady's choice." Spike said as he stood up.

Dawn stood up to as she spoke. "Chinese?"

"Sure."

They both headed out of the crypt and down to the restaurant. Spike texted Angel letting him know how Dawn was doing. After dinner Spike dropped Dawn off just down the block from her house. He didn't want to deal with Buffy just yet plus he had to get to the club to make some money. Spike waited until he saw Dawn going into the house before he turned and headed for the club. He didn't want to keep doing this, but he wasn't going to let Dawn down. He could take care of himself and Dawn. With the thought of Dawn in his head Spike headed off to the club.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Dawn headed into the house and up to her room. She knew Buffy wasn't going to be here tonight, because she never was. She had to work tonight and then she would be patrolling. Dawn headed up to her room to get ready. She was going out with Chris, Janice and Jake tonight. She didn't know what they were going to get up to tonight, but she didn't care. They had been spending a lot to time together in the past two weeks and Dawn actually felt alive and wanted again. It had been a long time since she felt like that and she wasn't going to let anything stop her now. She went over to her closet and pulled out a small black shirt that she had stolen last weekend with Janice. It was barely long enough to cover her ass. Dawn had quickly realised that Jake loved short skirts and small tops. Dawn didn't mind it he thought she was sexy and she loved it. She put the skirt on, but kept her underwear off like she has the last couple of times she's seen Jake. She put on a short little black halter top and her black leather jacket. She grabbed a pair of high heeled boots before she headed out and over to Janice's house. She waited at the corner like she always does and sure enough Janice came down the street a moment later. She was wearing a skirt and leather jacket as well. They had both stolen their outfits just last weekend and Dawn knew they both looked hot. Janice smiled as she approached Dawn.

"Lookin' hot." Janice said with a smile.

"You to. When are they gonna get here?" Dawn asked with a smile.

"They should be here soon. Any problem getting out?"

"None, Buffy's not even there like usual." Dawn rolled her eyes.

"God you are so lucky you have no idea. I know it was hard when you lost your mom, but you basically have the freedom to do anything. I can't wait to party tonight."

"Me either. I don't even want to go to school tomorrow. I might just crash with Jake tonight." Dawn said with a smile.

"Are you even wearing any panties under that skirt?" Janice asked with a smirk.

"Are you?"

"Fuck no, they just get in the way." Janice said with a smile.

The car pulled up and both Janice and Dawn got in. Jake was driving so Dawn got in the front and Janice got into the back with Chris.

"You two are lookin' fucking sexy tonight." Jake said with a smile and Dawn knew he approved of her outfit.

"Don't we always?" Dawn asked with confidence.

"Ya you do." Jake said as he started to drive off.

"So where to tonight?" Janice asked.

"Hotel room to have our own party. The house is too full tonight." Chris said.

"And what will we be doing in this hotel? Nothing bad I hope." Janice asked with this fake innocence.

"I got an ounce of coke and three bottles of whiskey." Jake said.

"And the room has a king size bed in it and a hot tub." Chris added.

"Nice." Dawn said with a smile.

"Why don't we get this party started then." Janice said as she moved to straddle Chris' lap and started to make out with him.

"You're up for a party tonight aren't you baby?" Jake asked.

"I'm always sup for a party." Dawn said back.

"Good. I missed you." Jake said as he put his right hand on Dawn's thigh.

"I missed you." Dawn said.

"Ya how much?" Jake asked as he moved his hand up higher and under her short skirt.

Dawn opened her legs more as she spoke. "Why don't you move your hand higher and find out."

Jake smirked and he moved his hand all the way up to Dawn's crotch and was happy to feel that there was nothing blocking him from her. He ran his finger up between her lips and could feel just how wet she was already.

"You horny baby?" Jake asked with a smirk already knowing the answer.

"I'm always horny for you."

Jake moved his hand back over to his own crotch and he undid his jeans and freed himself. He was already hard.

"Why don't you hop on and show me just how much you've missed me."

"While you're driving?" Dawn asked slightly unsure.

"Ya why not? Don't worry about them, they are about to do the same thing. You're not shy are you baby?"

"No, just don't want to crash."

"You'll be safe. Come on baby I want to be deep inside that wet pussy of yours. Come take what you want."

Dawn looked into the backseat and saw that Janice was already moaning and moving on top of Chris. Dawn took off her seatbelt and went and climbed onto Jake's lap and let him slide into her. Jake unzipped Dawn's jacket so he could kiss her neck. Dawn began to move and moan. As she got into it she completely forgotten that someone was in the backseat and that wasn't the first time that night. Once they got to the hotel the four of them headed into the room. It was huge and there was a six person hot tub in the corner of the room.

"It's too bad you girls don't have any swim wear we could have used the hot tub." Jake said.

"Who said we needed any swim suits?" Janice said with a smirk.

"Ya we don't need any of that. What I need though is a really big line and a drink." Dawn said.

"Your wish is my command." Chris said with a smile.

Chris pulled out the coke and he made sure there were four big lines and he lined up four shots. They all took the coke and the whiskey and it didn't take long before the coke took effect.

"We need some music up in here." Jake said and he went over to the TV and turned it onto a music station.

"Nice." Janice said with a smile.

Chris turned the hot tub on and he removed his shirt.

"What do you girls say feel like going in?" Chris asked with a smile.

"Definitely." Dawn said.

They all began to remove their clothes until all four of them were naked. They got in with Dawn and Janice beside each other with a guy on the other side of them.

"God this feels so good." Dawn said as he sat back.

"It does feel good and it looks damn fucking good from here." Jake said as he could see both Janice's and Dawn's chests out of the water.

"Looks real fuckin' good. All silky and smooth." Chris said as he ran his hand down between Janice's crotch.

Janice spread her legs to let Chris's hand go even further.

"You girls feeling naughty?" Jake asked with a smirk.

"I'm feeling pretty good right now. What did you have in mind?" Janice asked.

"Let's have some real fun tonight. There's two of you and two of us. Who's to say we shouldn't enjoy that?" Jake said with a smirk.

"You want an orgy?" Dawn asked with a smile.

"Maybe you girls aren't up for it. You are still high school girls after all." Jake said.

"Oh ya would high school girls do this?" Dawn asked as she leaned over and began to kiss Janice.

Janice kissed right back and after a moment they pulled back.

"Ya they would." Jake said.

"Oh and how about this?" Janice asked as she moved her mouth down to Dawn's chest and started to suck on his nipples.

"Some of them do." Chris said.

"And this?" Dawn asked as she moved her hand and slid two fingers inside of Janice and began to move them. Janice did the same to Dawn and they started to moan at it.

"Nope they wouldn't do that. Looks like you girls really can keep up. Tonight is going to be so fucking fun now." Jake said with a smile as he looked at Chris.

They had spent the rest of the night having sex with each other and doing lines or coke and shots of whiskey. By the time they had worn themselves out they all feel asleep in the one bed all naked on top of the covers.


	4. Together Again

Together Again

Two weeks, it had been two weeks since Spike had left L.A. and returned back to Sunnydale. Two very long weeks. Spike was exhausted and he was in pain on more than one level. Spike was currently sitting down in his chair in front of the television, but it was off. Spike couldn't believe how the last two weeks had gone. He was able to avoid Buffy for three days, but then he was out on his way to the club when she found him.

_Flashback_

_Spike had spent the last three nights working in the club to pay for Dawn's rent and utilities. Thanks to Buffy and the others not paying rent since Joyce died her interest rate had gone up so the rent was three grand a month, plus all of her utilities so it came to roughly four grand a month before food. Joyce also had some outstanding hospital bills that needed to be taken care of, because the hospital bills were through the same bank and if they weren't paid they could take their house for it. The life insurance truly didn't cover much and no one was paying any attention to it. Spike wasn't able to get his hands on all of the bills so he went to Anya and pulled her aside to ask her about it. Anya had known that he was taking care of the bills when Buffy was dead. She was willing to let him know what they had to pay off so the house wouldn't be taken. Needless to say there was a rather large debt outstanding that was collecting more interest each month on it. There was also outstanding credit card debt from Joyce that wasn't paid from the sale of the Gallery. They were currently sitting at nine grand in debt and if it wasn't paid off soon they could lose the house. Spike was trying to prevent that, because he didn't want Dawn to have to go through all of that. She had been through enough she shouldn't have to worry about losing the only home she had ever known too._

_Spike wasn't going to let that happen so he was working in the club every night to save up some money. He had taken a grand and invested it into the stocks. He had done some research first and he was able to find a few good ones that he was able to follow. He then put the rest of the money away in the bank. He was on his way to the club when he stumbled upon Buffy. She was doing her patrol in the Graveyard when she saw him walking by. She went over to him quickly._

"_Spike, wait up." _

_Spike truly didn't want to stop and talk to her, but he didn't want her following him either. He couldn't go to the club with her and he couldn't let her find out what he was doing. He didn't want her to keep Dawn away from him though or let it be known to everyone that he was whoring himself out to pay for Buffy's bills. Spike turned around the face Buffy and for the first time in years Spike didn't feel anything for her. He was tired and at the end of his rope with her. He was sick of being beaten by her and put down. He was sick of being treated like nothing by not only her, but her friends especially after all of the times he had had their backs and protected them. They had no idea how much he had gone through just for them._

"_What?" Spike said with anger clear in his voice._

"_Where have you been? You've been gone for a couple of weeks." Buffy said calmly._

"_I had some healing to do. You know after the beating you gave me in the alley while I was trying to stop you from doing something stupid. I almost died not that you care." Spike said with a calm anger to his voice._

"_Hey look I'm sorry, but that wasn't all of my fault. Those nerds had been screwing with me. I came the next night to see you and make sure you were okay, but you weren't there. I checked every night. I was starting to think you weren't coming back."_

"_Why would you care what I do? You are always telling me that I mean nothing to you and that you want me to leave. So my leaving shouldn't matter to you."_

"_I know I've been a bitch recently, but I'm going through a lot. I thought you understood that." Buffy said with hurt to her voice._

"_I do understand that, but that doesn't mean you get to beat me up. I almost died Buffy. If it wasn't for the fact that I was at a Mate's place I would have. You would have killed me. You can't make that better by saying sorry."_

"_I know I did something bad and I am sorry. Let me make it up to you." Buffy said with a flirtatious smile as she went over to Spike and tried to touch his chest. _

_Spike moved back away from Buffy._

"_Unbelievable. You think after almost killing me that I'll just what welcome you back with open arms and forget all about it? You really think that I'll just follow you around and let you beat me like a kicked dog. No more go find another punching bag Slayer."_

"_I said I was sorry. I didn't know what I was doing, I was seeing things. I'm sorry Spike."_

"_If you truly are sorry then you'll earn back the trust instead of just trying to have sex with me." Spike said as he turned to walk away._

"_Wait where are you going?" _

"_I have a job to do."_

"_Let me help you."_

"_It's not a job where the Slayer is welcome. I have to take care of something in the demon world and I can't do that with you along."_

"_Ok. Well can we patrol together tomorrow?"_

"_I can for a couple of hours after sunset. I got a lot of work lined up right now, but I can for a couple of hours."_

"_Ok I'll come by your place tomorrow at sunset then."_

"_Alright. Be safe."_

"_Ya you too." Buffy said with a smile._

_Spike gave a nod before he headed towards the club. He wasn't even two minutes on the way when his cell phone started to ring. Spike knew it was going to be Angel as he had forgotten to hide his emotions when Buffy showed up and he knew that Angel would have been able to feel his upset and anger. Spike pulled out his phone and answered it._

"_I'm fine." Spike said right away with a calm voice._

"_What happened?" Angel asked with concern. He had felt Spike's anger and pain and he knew something was wrong._

"_I'm out on my way to a job and Buffy saw me while she was patrolling."_

"_Did she do something?" Angel asked with worry._

"_No she just apologised and then thought sex would make it all better. I told her otherwise. She asked for me to patrol with her tomorrow night I said I could for a couple of hours."_

"_Is that a good idea?"_

"_I can't avoid her. I'm not going to do anything with her, but I still have to deal with her. I want to have Niblet in my life and she's a part of it. It'll be fine it's only going to be for a couple of hours. I can't avoid her Angel." Spike said calmly._

"_I know you can't I just don't like that she can hurt you. I don't really trust her with you right now."_

"_Are you sure that's the reason?" Spike asked cautiously._

"_What are you talking about?" _

"_I'm getting some serious jealousy vibes from you right now mixed in with anger." Spike said cautiously again. _

_They hadn't spoken about the kiss and Spike was doing his best not to think about it, but he just couldn't help it. He had thought about it every day and at night it was the highlight of his dreams. Spike had forgotten what it felt like to be kissing Angel. They only had that one night together and it was eight decades ago. Spike had never felt like that with anyone before and since. Even with Buffy he had never felt that wanted and safe. There was just something about the way Angel made him feel that Spike enjoyed. Even when he was human he had never even looked at another man, yet there was just something about Angel. Maybe it was the demon in him now or un-life had changed him. Either way he just couldn't forget about the way Angel's lips felt against his._

"_There may be a little bit of jealousy. I'm mostly worried, but I'm a little jealousy."_

"_Why are you jealous?" Spike asked as he stopped walking and leaned against a wall just across from the club._

"_I think you know why." Angel said calmly._

"_Not really." Spike answered honestly._

"_You know I care about you. I forgot how much I cared about you until I saw you. Seeing you that beat up, I haven't been that scared and angry in a long time. I know I probably shouldn't have kissed you like that. We've only ever done something once and we were both drunk. I know you don't go for guys and I don't tend to either." Angel's rant was cut off by Spike._

"_I liked it."_

"_So did I. Now you are back there with Buffy who is amazing and I know you love her. So I'm a little jealous. It's nothing that you need to worry about."_

"_I love the Niblet. I'm not sure what I feel for Buffy anymore. She's not the woman she was when I fell in love with her. I don't know who she is anymore. I'd be lying if I didn't say I haven't thought that about that kiss every day since." Spike said honestly._

"_I can't stop thinking about it either." Angel said back._

"_So maybe we just play it by year. No pressure, see what happens." Spike said._

"_Ya no pressure, just see what happens. That's good. What are you doing tonight?"_

"_Just have a quick job to do. You? Any bad demons tonight?"_

"_Not yet. I'm out on patrol, but nothing interesting so far. What type of job?"_

"_Just some demon thing. Nothing dangerous." Spike lied smoothly._

"_Be safe. Let me know when you get back to your place."_

'_I'll text you when I'm done. Oh and Angel."_

"_Ya?"_

"_You have nothing to be jealous over Sire." Spike said before he ended the call with a smirk on his face._

_Spike didn't know what was going on between them, but part of him was glad that he didn't know. It was nice to have this stress free thing between him and Angel. Spike was attracted to him, that was made clear from the kiss, but he wasn't going to push anything. If something was going to happen he would let the world decide that one. Spike needed to focus on working and making money to support Dawn and if Angel ever found out just what he was doing he would be disgusted by him and not want him. At that sobering thought Spike put his cell phone away and headed across the street._

_End Flashback_

That was a week and a half ago. Things had been going well since then, until today at least. Things between him and Buffy had been good. They hadn't had sex or even kissed. Spike was surprised he thought Buffy would have pushed more, but she hadn't. They had spent a few hours a night just patrolling together and talking like they used to before all of the sex. It was nice and Spike was liking that him and Buffy seemed to be back on track to being friends. Spike wanted to be more than that at one point, but it ruined the friendship. Spike found out the hard way that he would much rather have the friendship than nothing at all. Spike had been able to see Dawn every few nights and they were still texting each other every day all day long. Spike wanted to be there for Dawn even when he couldn't be. He was working at the club and had been able to get enough money to pay the rent on time this month. He was still working on the utilities and the debt, but that was something that was going to take some time. Spike understood that and there was nothing he could do about it. As he worked at the club he could save up money so he wouldn't have to work as much. Spike was hoping he would be able to live off of the investments soon so he wouldn't have to work at the club at all. Everything had been going fine until today.

_Flashback_

_It was just two hours before sunset and Spike was downstairs asleep in his bed. He had been working all night and he was exhausted. He had no idea just how emotionally draining it was to be working at the club so much. He had no idea why half of the demons there worked there, but Spike figured they had to just like himself. He was so exhausted he didn't even notice Buffy coming down the ladder. She saw that he was asleep on his back and he was as usual naked under the covers. Buffy smiled and she went over to the bed. She moved the small amount of covers off from Spike's body after she removed her clothes. She got on top of him and that was enough to snap Spike awake. Spike woke with a start and ready for a fight. Buffy caught his fist as he woke up swinging and she just gave Spike a smile._

"_Relax it's just me. God you really do sleep like the dead. You should have sensed me coming down here. I could have been someone looking to kill you and not do other more pleasurable things to you." Buffy said with a smirk as she bent down to kiss Spike._

_Spike moved his head out of the way as he spoke._

"_Buffy get off me." _

_Buffy sat back up clearly not happy about Spike rejecting her once again._

"_Why? Do you not like me anymore or something? Because since you've been back you haven't even tried to kiss me." Buffy said annoyed._

"_You almost killed me and I haven't kissed you? I'm shocked, shocked." Spike said sarcastically._

"_I told you I was sorry about that. I haven't hurt you since and I've been nice. I don't think some sex time is all that hard on you. It's not like you don't enjoy it. I know you do. Now shut up and make me feel something." Buffy said annoyed._

"_Make you feel something eh? That's the only reason you're here is to feel something. You don't even like me you just like that I can make you feel something other than numb or angry. Get the hell off of me Buffy." Spike said with anger._

"_What is your deal? You never cared before so don't start pretending like you care now." Buffy said as she moved her hand down to Spike's soft dick and started to touch it. "I know you want me. You never stopped wanting me so don't pretend like you don't want this Spike." _

_Spike grabbed Buffy's hand and pushed it away from himself. He then moved his hips and bucked Buffy off from him. Buffy landed on the floor and she was not happy at all. She had a fight with Dawn just before she came over here, she was being forced to leave for this stupid seminar for work. She would have to be gone for the whole weekend to deal with a bunch of idiots. Plus she was barely making any money. The last thing she wanted to deal with was Spike rejecting her. _

"_I said get off. I meant it." Spike said in a serious voice as he got off the bed on the other side._

_Buffy got up as she spoke. "What the hell is your problem! Since when don't you want me? What I'm not good enough for you now? You are nothing but some worthless, soulless monster. You are lucky that I even look at you let alone let you have sex with me. You will never be good enough for me so you should just be happy with what I give you." Buffy said as she stood right in front of Spike._

"_Get the fuck out of here and don't come back." Spike said in a deadly voice._

_Buffy wasn't about to leave though. She swung back and punched Spike right across the face. Spike's head snapped to the right and he stumbled back against the nightstand with the force of the punch. He barely had time to look up as Buffy was throwing more punches at him. Another hit his face and three others landed on his ribs. Spike couldn't take it anymore and he clenched his fist and he threw a punch at Buffy hitting her with his full strength. She went across the room and Spike screamed in pain and grabbed his head. The pain was extreme as it always was with the harder he hit someone. He collapsed to his knees as the pain got worse and his vision blurred. Buffy got up and now she was even more pissed. She ran over to Spike and took advantage of him not being able to fight back as the pain in his head was extreme. She kicked and punched him everywhere that she could. Spike ended up in his back still clenching his head in pain and trying to block some of the attacks off. He could vaguely feel the anger and worry from Angel through their bond and he tried to block out his pain, but he just couldn't get his mind to focus long enough to. After a moment Buffy stopped punching Spike. She grabbed the handcuffs from the nightstand before she grabbed both of Spike's wrists and handcuffed them above his head to a chair leg. Spike was in a lot of pain, not as much as the one night in the alley, but the pain was pretty high up there. _

"_Buffy stop." Spike tried to say, but his mind was so clouded with pain and his jaw hurt from all of the hits it was hard to talk._

"_Shut up. I know you like it rough. You're a vampire right? You all love it rough and pain is just fore-play to you." Buffy said as she started to stroke Spike to make him hard._

"_Stop Buffy I don't want this. Just leave please." Spike said trying to reason with her even though he knew it wouldn't work. He didn't want this. He was exhausted and in pain the last thing he wanted was to have sex with the one that caused the pain. The problem was he was still a man and all he needed was friction to get hard._

_It didn't take long before Spike was hard and Buffy straddled his lap and she spoke. "See I told you wanted it." _

_Buffy slowly put him inside of her and Spike closed his eyes. He didn't want this and he couldn't believe this was happening to him again. Spike had been spending every night for the past two weeks being screwed by demons and humans. The last thing he wanted to be doing was having sex with Buffy against his wishes. He was so sick of being treated like shit, like he was nothing, lower than dirt. He wanted to feel protected and cared for again. Spike tried to ignore the feeling that was going on between his legs. He focused his mind to think about Angel and try to get some comfort from their bond. He could feel Angel's rage at him feeling his pain on different levels. Spike focused on that rage and the comfort that Angel was trying to provide to him. Angel could feel his need for the comfort and he was trying his best from being so far away. Angel didn't know what was going on, but he could feel Spike's physical pain as well as emotional pain. Both were high and Angel knew that something horrible was happening to him. Angel had a feeling Buffy was behind it and he wishes he could be closer to Spike to get to him. All Angel could do was send him comfort and try to make him feel better through the bond. Angel wished they still had a bond strong enough that they could talk through their minds, but they didn't have that anymore. All Angel could do was send Spike comfort and wait until he called him._

_Spike focused on the comfort that Angel was sending him and just hoping that Buffy got off soon so she could leave him alone. That didn't come for an agonizing fifteen minutes before he felt Buffy cum. This is normally when she just gets off and leaves and Spike was hoping that would be the case. He still had a migraine going from when he hit her and all he wanted to do was curl up and fight the pain away. Buffy noticed that Spike was still hard so she got off from him and grabbed him with her right hand and she squeezed him hard as she spoke. Spike let out a scream as she used her Slayer strength to squeeze his manhood._

"_What I'm not good enough for you to get off anymore? You seem to have forgotten that you don't matter Spike. You are nothing but some disgusting monster. You don't matter, you never have and you never will. I have to go away this weekend for that stupid seminar and when I get back I expect you to go back to how you used to be. I don't like the attitude and I won't tolerate it. Do you understand me?"_

_When Spike didn't say anything Buffy squeezed even harder and Spike was certain this would be the first time he gets his dick broken._

"_I said do you understand me?" Buffy said with anger._

"_Yes just let go." Spike said with pain in his voice._

_Buffy gave him one last hard squeeze before she let go. She got up and headed over to the other side of the bed to get dressed. Spike was left lying there on the floor breathing hard to try and get the pain to subside. Once Buffy was dressed she went back over to Spike and kicked him a few more times as hard as she could on his ribs. Snaps of his bones breaking could be heard in the room and Spike knew he would have five or six broken ribs again. Buffy bent down and she placed her right hand on the left side of Spike's face as she spoke._

"_I don't like this new found attitude of yours. You talk back too much and I don't like it. Maybe this will help you to remember to keep your mouth shut."_

_Buffy took off the cross that was around her neck. She placed an iron grip on Spike's jaw and pushed hard enough to dislocate it. She then shoved her cross into his mouth and covered her hand over his mouth to keep the cross in his mouth. Spike screamed as he felt his mouth burning from the cross. Spike did everything he could to not swallow the cross and make it worse. After an agonizing five minutes the cross was pulled out of his mouth and Buffy smirked. She knew that Spike wouldn't be able to talk for a couple of days without extreme pain. She got up and gave him one last solid kick to the head before she went up the ladder. She went over to the fridge and took out the five blood packages that were there and she left with them so Spike wouldn't have any blood. Spike's whole body was in pain. He knew he couldn't stay there. Dawn could be coming over after school and that was only less than two hours away. He had to get up and get dressed. He had blood upstairs he just needed to get to it and that would help him heal. He already made the decision to go to L.A tonight to see Angel and he could get some blood from him to help finish the healing. Spike had to get the cuffs off first. So he pulled as hard as he could and he was able to break the wood that was keeping the cuffs above him. He brought his hands down and slowly pulled himself up into a sitting position. He looked down at his manhood and he could see that it was red and already starting to bruise. Spike knew being on the bike was going to hurt it even more, but he didn't have a choice. That's all he had right now he was just going to have to deal with it. Spike opened the nightstand drawer where the keys for the cuffs were. He unlocked the cuffs and his hands were free. He needed to relocate his jaw and Spike knew it was going to hurt, but he couldn't leave it like this. Spike did it quickly and he popped his jaw back in. He let out a scream at the pain and he tried to take deep breaths through his nose. Now he just needed to get dressed and get upstairs to the blood. His phone was also upstairs and he knew Angel would be texting or calling him soon. Spike took a deep breath in and he got up to his feet. He grabbed his jeans and carefully pulled them on. He then got his shirt on without passing out. Once he was fully dressed he slowly made his way over to the ladder. He slowly and painfully climbed up the ladder and headed over to the fridge. He just needed some blood and some of the injuries would heal before he had to leave tonight. Spike went over to the fridge and by the time he got there he was breathing heavily. He opened the fridge door and he instantly closed his eyes at it being empty. He knew he had five bags of blood in here that he got just last night. Spike slammed the fridge door as he realised that Buffy took his blood on purpose. So he couldn't drink it to heal. Spike slammed his hand against the fridge door in frustration and hurt. He was in pain and tired and all he wanted was some blood so he could start to feel better. Now he was going to have to wait until he got to L.A before he could get any blood into him. The pain would be twice as bad as it is now by the time he got to L.A and could feed. Spike went over to his chair and he sat down._

_End of Flashback_

Spike sat down in his chair and stared at his T.V that was off. He was fighting back the tears. He wasn't going to cry over this. He was stronger than this. Everything was just piling up on Spike and it was getting harder to fight it all back. Spike heard his phone ring and he looked at it to see that it was Angel calling. He knew he couldn't really talk without a lot of pain right now. Spike also didn't know if he could hear Angel's voice and not breakdown. Spike ignored the call and when the ringing was over he picked it up a sent Angel a text.

'_I'm fine I'll be there tonight with Niblet. Leaving once the sun sets.'_

Spike wasn't surprised at all when he received a text message back almost right away.

'_What happened? You're in a lot of pain right now, almost as much as you were a couple weeks ago. What happened Childe was it Buffy?'_

'_I can't talk about it right now. I'll explain later Sire. Please let me explain later.'_

Spike was fighting back the tears when the next message came through.

'_It's okay you can tell me when you are ready. Do you want me to come and pick you both up would that be easier?'_

'_Thanks but I'll be fine to drive us down there. I'll pick her up at sunset and head out then. I need you.'_

Spike knew he wasn't sounding like a Master Vampire, like the Childe to his Sire Angelus, but he was in so much pain anymore that he just couldn't take it. He had been a whore for over ten months now just to support Dawn. He was having to do it more and more and each time he felt worse and worse afterwards. Spike didn't know what to do anymore, but he knew he couldn't tell Angel. He would laugh at him and disown him. Spike couldn't handle going through that again. He just had to hang on until he could get enough money from the investments that he didn't have to do this job anymore. Spike opened the new text message from Angel.

'_I'm right here my sweet Childe. I'm not going anywhere. I'll be right here when you get home. I'll take care of you and make you feel better. I need you too.'_

'_I'll see you soon Sire.'_

Spike then sent Dawn a message letting her know what was going on.

'_Don't come here after school go home and pack a light bag. We're going to spend the weekend in L.A. I'll be there at sunset to pick you up. Make sure you let Red know where you are going.'_

Spike sat back in the chair and tried to get the pain under control. He closed his eyes and he didn't open them again until he felt his phone vibrate. He opened it and saw that it was a text from Dawn.

'_Awesome! I'll send her a text and let her know. So cool that I won't have to be stuck in the house alone all weekend! You rock I'll see you in like an hour or so then.'_

Spike couldn't help, but smile at Dawn, at least he had the love of one Summers' woman. Spike sat back in his chair with his eyes closed until he felt the sun setting. He didn't want to get up, but he knew he didn't have much of a choice. Spike forced himself up and he went over to his duffle bag, it was still packed from the last trip. He didn't see the point in putting it away as he was planning on going back to L.A. he didn't plan on going back this soon, but right now he was just thankful he wouldn't have to go back down the ladder. The pain had gotten twice as bad and Spike knew his face would be covered in bruises once again as well as his torso. Spike had thought about taking a few drinks from his liquor bottle, but he didn't want to be driving with Dawn on the bike after having a few. Spike knew that it wouldn't do much for him, but still he wasn't going to take the risk with Dawn. It was only two hours to get to L.A from here so Spike was just going to have to tough it out. He headed out of his crypt and headed around the back to his bike. He got onto his bike and headed off for Dawn.

Once Spike arrived at the house he honked the horn knowing that Dawn would be waiting for him. Sure enough the front door opened and Dawn came bouncing out of the house with her small duffle bag. She came running towards him all smiles until she saw his face.

"Spike oh my God what happened?"

"That bad eh?" Spike said trying to make a joke, but it didn't work too well as his mouth was so sore he could barely talk.

"You look horrible. Your face is all black and blue and you sound horrible. What happened?"

"Nothing you need to worry about Pet. I'll be fine, just a rough fight. I figured with your Big Sis gone for the weekend we could sneak away together and go check out L.A." Spike said trying to change the subject.

"And this has nothing to do with you avoiding whatever did this to you?"

"I took care of that problem. This is for fun, but if you don't want to then you can stay here." Spike said knowing full well that Dawn was not about to be left behind.

"Hell no I'm coming." Dawn strapped her duffle bag onto her back and she sat down behind Spike. She put on the helmet and wrapped her arms around him. She was careful not to hold on too tight so she wouldn't hurt Spike. Spike got the bike going again and he took off for the highway. Dawn laid her head down on his back and just enjoyed the ride on the highway to L.A.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Angel had been pacing around ever since he had felt Spike's pain. He hated not being there and being able to help him. He hated not knowing just what was going on and who was hurting him. Angel didn't know who it was, but part of him was screaming that it was Buffy again. Angel had loved Buffy, he still cared about her, but after finding out what he did from Spike it was getting harder and harder for Angel to care about her. She wasn't the same innocent, sweet girl he had fallen in love with. He didn't know who this version of her was, but he could honestly say he didn't like her. So Angel was stuck having to do the only thing he could do and that was to send comfort to Spike through the bond. He knew it wouldn't do much, but it would at least provide Spike with some form of comfort to him. When Angel felt like Spike wasn't receiving any more new pain and that he was safe or alone he had called him only to receive no answer. He was able to breathe again when he got Spike's text a moment later stating that he was fine and couldn't talk just yet. That had caused Angel to worry, but he wasn't in a position to push Spike. He was just going to have to wait until he came by tonight. Angel was thrilled that he was coming down for the weekend and that he was bringing Dawn with him. Angel would be able to be around Dawn and also keep an eye on Spike and make sure he was healing okay. Angel headed down from his room to the lobby where his team was.

"Spike is coming down for the weekend with Dawn. He's injured though so don't hound him with questions when you first see him." Angel said as he went over for a mug of blood. Angel knew that if Spike was in this much pain than he was seriously injured and Angel was going to need the extra blood, because he had every intentions of giving Spike his.

"How did he get hurt again?" Cordelia asked.

"He didn't say, but he'll be here after sunset. He was going to pick up Dawn and bring her with him." Angel answered.

"Why is he bringing Dawn?" Fred asked.

"I don't know. He didn't get into it. He wouldn't even answer his phone he just sent me a text message. I won't know more until he's here." Angel answered as he drank his blood.

"If he's coming down and he's bringing Dawn then there must be something going on with Buffy. I mean what else would make him come down so quickly and he's injured again." Cordelia said.

"It could be that Buffy is away and he's bringing Dawn down to get her out of Sunnydale for the weekend." Gunn suggested.

"Doesn't explain why he's injured and it wasn't like he had plans to come down." Cordelia said.

"Yes well we won't know what is truly going on until he's here." Wesley said calmly.

"What would happen if Buffy did get dangerous? I mean I know Spike is a vampire and she's the vampire Slayer, but what if it gets to be dangerous for humans?" Fred asked softly clearly unsure about how to approach the topic of Buffy when three of them had a friendship or relationship with her.

"I could get her to sing and take a peek at her future." Lorne suggested with a smile.

"Buffy won't sing. I can't see her hurting anyone human or her friends." Angel said.

"Ya, but none of us ever thought she would hurt someone that defenseless against her. She beat the living hell out of Spike just a couple weeks ago and he's on his way here again injured. There can't be another reason other than Buffy did it again to him. Now he's bringing Dawn with him so obviously he must think she shouldn't be there without him. It's not a pretty scenario here, but what if Buffy is getting to be too dangerous?" Cordelia asked.

"We already have one vampire Slayer in jail we can't afford to have another one there as well. If Buffy becomes a problem then we will have to contact Giles and have him come down to deal with her. Until Spike arrives we won't know the story and we shouldn't be jumping to conclusions." Wesley said.

"Well he'll be here in a couple of hours so I guess we'll find out then." Gunn said.

They all went back to work and Angel spent the next few hours trying to offer what comfort he could to Spike. He could feel him getting closer and Angel took comfort in that fact. It wasn't until just after seven did Spike and Dawn arrive. Angel headed outside to see them pulling up the driveway on the bike. Spike didn't have a helmet on and Angel was able to see even in the dark the damage done to Spike's face. The bruising had gotten worse since the drive started and the bruising was dark and deep. Spike stopped the bike and turned it off and offered a small smile to Angel to try and offer him some comfort. Dawn got up off the bike and took the helmet off.

"Whew I forgot how much fun that is. Hey Angel." Dawn said with a huge smile.

"Hello Dawn. It's good to see you again." Angel said and Dawn went over to him to give him a hug. Angel was surprised, but he gave Dawn a hug never the less.

"Niblet head inside and say hello to everyone. Cordelia is in there." Spike said with a smile and Angel could hear the pain from just talking.

"Awesome." Dawn said with a smile as she headed inside.

Once Dawn was gone Spike let his brave front drop and he lowered his head to rest against his arms that were against the handlebars. Angel came over to Spike as he spoke.

"What the hell happened?"

"Fuck it hurts. Help me up." Spike said with his teeth clenched at the level of pain his mouth and crotch was in from the trip.

Angel gently placed a hand on the left side of Spike's torso and held onto Spike's right arm. Spike got up off the bike and he bent over trying to ease the pain that was radiating off from his crotch. Angel rubbed soothing circles on Spike's back, not truly sure what was hurting Spike the most.

"What hurts?" Angel asked.

"My junk. She squeezed it and not in an erotic sexual way. In the grabbing and Slayer strength squeezing way." Spike said through clenched teeth.

"Oww." Angel said with complete sympathy for Spike. He had never been through it himself, but he couldn't imagine that had to be pleasurable in any way.

"Ya pretty much sums it up." Spike said as he stood back up straight. "Niblet thinks I got into a fight with demons and doesn't know how injured I was before. She can't know about it, ever." Spike said as he turned to look at Angel.

"I promise you my team will keep quiet about it. What is going on with your mouth you don't sound normal." Angel asked with concern.

"My jaw was dislocated and she shoved her cross necklace in my mouth. Supposed to teach me not to talk back."

Angel placed his hands gently on both sides of Spike's face as he spoke.

"Let me see." Angel said calmly.

Spike opened his mouth and Angel could see that his mouth was all raw, red and burnt. Spike closed it before he spoke.

"I'm fine just need a bag of blood and I'll be okay."

"Come on you need blood." Angel said as he rubbed his thumb against Spike's cheek.

They both headed inside where everyone was being introduced to Dawn. Dawn was sitting down on the couch with Cordelia beside her. They all looked over at Angel and Spike as they walked in. Spike could see their concern on their face, but he was thankful that no one said anything.

"Having fun Niblet?" Spike asked trying his best to hide the pain from his voice at talking.

"Ya Cordy was just telling me who everyone was and some funny little stories. She said if it's okay with you that tomorrow she can show me around town." Dawn asked with a smile.

"That's fine just listen to her." Spike said.

"Awesome." Dawn said with a smile.

"Well I don't know about you guys, but I am starving. Why don't I take Dawn and we go and pick up something for dinner?" Cordelia suggested. She knew that Angel and Spike needed some time alone to get a few things straightened out. This way it would keep Dawn innocent to what was truly going on and give Spike the chance to talk to Angel without having to worry about Dawn.

"Sounds good to me. I'll go with you just in case." Gunn said.

"That would be a good idea it's dark out now and there is no telling what could come up." Wesley said.

"Is it okay if I go?" Dawn asked Spike.

"That's fine Bit." Spike said with a small smile.

"Anybody care what we get?" Cordelia asked as she got up.

"I don't care." Fred said with a small shrug.

"I don't either. Whatever you decide." Wesley said.

"Alright we can figure it out in the car. Let's go." Cordelia said with a smile to Dawn.

The three of them headed out and Angel turned to Spike.

"You need blood. Come on."

Spike followed Angel up the stairs and down into his bedroom. Once the bedroom door was closed Spike dropped the tough act and let out a shaky breath.

"Its okay sit down." Angel said as he placed a hand on Spike's back and guided him over to the bed.

Spike sat down with his back against the pillows.

"We have about a half an hour before they come back. You need blood." Angel said as he sat down on the edge of the bed next to Spike.

Angel placed a gentle hand on the back of Spike's neck to bring him down to his own neck.

"What are you doing?" Spike asked with confusion to his voice.

"You need blood. You need something stronger than animal blood."

"I'll be fine with package. I can't drink from you it'll make you weak and tired." Spike said calmly.

"I already drank extra blood to account for the difference. I'll be fine. You need something stronger to help with the pain. Drink my blood it'll help you heal faster. I don't mind." Angel said honestly.

"Are you sure? You never let us drink from you before." Spike said referring to himself and Drusilla.

"Angelus had a problem with it, but I don't. We're family and you would do the same for me."

"In a heartbeat." Spike said honestly back.

"Take my blood. I'm telling you its' okay I'll be fine I drank extra just in case you needed it." Angel said as he rubbed on the back of Spike's neck with his thumb.

Spike closed his eyes as he felt the comfort from Angel go right into his demon. The back of the neck had always been a special place for vampires and demons. It's something only they could truly understand. Spike gave a small nod before he moved down to Angel's neck. Angel kept his hand on the back of Spike's neck as he felt Spike's fangs gently slide into his neck and bite down. Angel closed his eyes at the feeling of his blood being pulled out of him. Angel was also fighting against the attraction he felt towards Spike. He could smell Buffy all over him and Angel knew the last thing Spike needed was to feel Angel getting hard at him biting him. After a few minutes Spike retracted his fangs and licked and sucked Angel's wound closed. Spike moved back from Angel and he could already feel the pain lessening from Angel's blood. It wouldn't be instant. He would still be bruised and sore, but tomorrow he would start to feel a lot better.

"Thank-you Sire."

"There's nothing to thank my sweet Childe. We still have some time, why don't you tell me what happened today." Angel said calmly as he rubbed his thumb on the back of Spike's neck keeping Spike within reach of him.

Angel felt the rush of emotional hurt come from Spike and Angel knew this was hard on him. Angel also knew that Spike wasn't the type to not talk about something. He was an emotional being. He needed to talk when something was bothering him or when he was confused. Spike even wrote when he didn't have anyone there to talk to about something.

"I was stupid I thought everything was going to be fine. It had been for a week and a half, but I guess that's all she had in her. I swear it's like someone else came out of that grave and is just using Buffy as a shell, because it wasn't her that came back to us. She's not the woman I fell in love with." Spike said sadly.

"You could actually be right about that. Willow should never have done that spell. There's no guarantee that all of Buffy came back. They were interrupted to begin with. It was dangerous, selfish and stupid of all of them. It's not your fault though, you didn't know what they were planning. They kept you in the dark for a reason. You would have never have let Willow go to that level of dark magic. They knew that and they kept it from you for that very reason. If something is wrong that's on them and not on you."

"I know, but it doesn't make it easier. I know death changes people I've seen it and been through it, but it's harder when that person is someone you loved, someone that died human and came back human. She's so angry and she can hide it, but only for so long. The last week and a half everything had been fine. We were patrolling together and just hangout talking. Like we were friends again. I didn't even try to make a move, because I'm happy just being friends. We had more and it was horrible, we were horrible for each other. Just being friends works for us. Knowing we have each other's back in the field works. I wasn't looking for more anymore from her. The love changed to just friends and I'm happy with that. We're better off as just friends. I thought she saw that."

"She didn't though did she?" Angel asked calmly.

"No she didn't. I was sleeping. I don't sleep much anymore, because I've been working all night plus patrolling with her. Then during the day I try to sleep, but Niblet usually comes by after school so I make sure things are cleaned and straightened up for her. Between that and these stupid nightmares I don't sleep much. I didn't even hear her or feel her coming down to my bedroom. I should of, but I've just been so tired."

"It happens to all of us. We get so tried and comfortable in our surroundings that it's easy to shut off and forget about the world. I've done it a lot before, especially since I've been living here. It's all too easy to shut the world off. What happened when she came down?" Angel asked gently as he started to rub the back of Spike's neck again.

"I didn't wake up until she was on top of me naked. She seemed to think that a week and a half had been long enough of a wait. I pushed her off and got up off the bed she wasn't too happy about that. She came around and started to hit me. I hit her back, just once as hard as I could. It sent her across the room and me to my knees practically. The thing with the chip is the harder you hit someone the more pain it gives off. I couldn't really see past the blur. She came at me and started to punch and kick. I ended up on the ground. She grabbed the handcuffs from the night stand and she cuffed my hands above my head to the chair leg. You can probably figure out what happened next." Spike said with hurt as he kept his eyes down.

"She raped you." Angel said softly, but the rage going through him could be easily felt by Spike.

"It's nothing short of what I deserve. I've done a lot of horrible things in the past. Only seems right that some of it comes back to me." Spike said sadly.

"You have killed people and tortured some in the past, but you've never raped a woman, ever. You've been trying to make up for what you've done in the past. What the demon has done. You don't deserve what she's done to you. You're not this worthless monster William." Angel said with a deadly serious voice.

Spike was fighting against the tears that were threatening to fall. Spike took in a shaky deep breath to try and control his emotions. He couldn't breakdown right now. He had to be strong for when Dawn came back with Cordelia and Gunn. Spike wiped his face to remove the few tears that had escaped.

"I can't do this right now. The Niblet is going to be back soon and she can't know about what has been going on. I can't breakdown right now." Spike said trying to harden his voice.

"Ok, it's okay. She'll be in bed in a couple of hours and then we can come back in here and get through this. It'll be okay we'll figure it out. Lay back for me so I can check your ribs." Angel said softly.

Spike gave a small nod before he laid back against the pillows and Angel moved Spike's shirt up slowly. Spike let out a breath slowly at the pain and Angel once again was shocked by the level of damage that Buffy had done to Spike. He had at least six broken ribs again plus bruising. Thankfully he didn't seem to have any internal damage and after a couple of days he will be healed up with his blood. Angel put the shirt back down and Spike sat back up.

"You have six broken ribs. You're going to be sore for a couple of days."

"I'll be fine. Nothing I haven't been through before."

"I know, but she shouldn't have done this to you." Angel kissed Spike's forehead before he spoke again. "Let's go back downstairs. The others will be back soon."

Spike gave a nod and took in a deep breath to steal himself to last a little longer. They both got up off from the bed and headed back down the stairs. They got down there just as the others arrived. They had Chinese take-out bags and Dawn was laughing as they walked in.

"Hey we have Chinese." Cordelia said with a smile.

She went over to the kitchen followed by the others. Dawn went over to Spike and gave him a hug. Spike hugged her back and was able to hide the pain of his ribs. They all went into the kitchen to grab some food Angel grabbed some blood and held up a package to Spike, but Spike shook his head no. Angel got himself some blood and once everyone had a plate they all headed back out to the lobby. They all sat down on the circle of couches to eat. Spike sat between Dawn and Angel.

"Did you behave Little Bit?" Spike asked with a smile.

"Yes I behaved Spike. We only went like three blocks." Dawn said with a smile and she rolled her eyes in a playful manner.

"So what time are you up for leaving tomorrow? We have a lot to see and I only get you for the weekend." Cordelia said.

"Um I don't care. Whenever you want to go I'll be up." Dawn said with a smile.

"How about we leave for nine that way we can see a lot of sites and do some shopping." Cordelia said with a smile.

"Sounds good."

"Fred, do you want to come?" Cordelia asked.

"No thanks. I'm not one for shopping thank-you." Fred said with a small smile.

"Your loss. So nine sound good Dawnie?" Cordelia asked.

"I'll be ready." Dawn said with a smile.

"So anything happening tonight?" Cordelia asked.

"Nothing has come up." Wesley said.

"It's been quiet this week that is either a good thing or a bad thing." Fred said.

"I'll go with good thing until we find out otherwise." Gunn said with a smile.

"I'll go for that too. Any week where I only have three visions is a good week for me." Cordelia said.

"Visions?" Dawn asked slightly confused.

"Cordy gets visions of people in trouble from the Powers that Be. It gives her a migraine." Angel explained.

"Oh that's kinda cool and sucks at the same time because of the migraine thing." Dawn said

"You get use to it. So how is everything going in school?" Cordelia asked.

"Good ya know its high school." Dawn said with a shrug.

"High school on a Hellmouth, trust me I know. Still some of the best times of my life as corny as that sounds." Cordelia said.

"Why did you move out here?" Dawn asked.

"I didn't want to be in Sunnydale anymore and Angel started an investigation service up here. I figured what the hell. I had spent a lot of time in High school trying to ignore what was going on and pretending like I knew nothing about it. I figured it was time I just gave up and accepted that I was going to know things that other people didn't." Cordelia answered.

"And Wesley came out with you?" Dawn asked.

"Yes I did. I was working for the Watcher's Council, but I just didn't agree with something they did. I was a lot more stiff than I am now. I decided it was time I stopped being someone else and just be myself. Working alongside Angel and Cordelia allowed me to do so." Wesley answered.

"And where did Gunn and Fred come from?" Dawn asked.

"Well I was part of this gang that hunted down Vampires. Angel saved my life and I didn't trust him at first, but he grew on me. I started to help him out while I was still running my gang and then the time came to pick one so I went with Angel." Gunn answered.

"Angel rescued me from another dimension where humans were treated as slaves. I was there for a long time and he got me out. He brought me back here and its one of the only true places I have ever felt safe in. Now I help him out." Fred answered for herself.

"Now you are a part of this team. We're all a family here Dawn and you are our newest member." Angel said with a smile.

"Thanks." Dawn said with a smile to Angel.

Spike turned to look at Angel and gave him a genuine smile. Angel smiled back at Spike and he sat back on the couch with his arm over the back of the couch behind Spike. He placed his hand on the back of Spike's neck and started to rub it with his thumb again. Spike could feel the care coming from Angel and the comfort. If they were alone Spike would have curled up against him, but they weren't alone they were surrounded by Angel's team. So Spike settled for the feel of Angel's emotions and comfort. Cordelia was sitting across from them and she could see what Angel was doing. She couldn't help, but smile as she looked over at them. It was nice seeing Angel being close to someone. He hadn't even truly been close to Buffy because he was afraid of his curse. With Spike he was more comfortable around him. It was nice to see the change in Angel around Spike. Cordelia didn't care who Angel dated or fell in love with. She just wanted him happy and Spike seemed to be able to loosen Angel up a bit and make him smile. It was nice to see.

The spent the next two hours just having small talk and hanging out. They didn't get a call and Cordelia didn't get a vision so they decided they would call it a night. They were all cleaning up when Spike went over to Dawn and kissed her on her forehead.

"Night Niblet."

"Night Spike. Will I see you in the morning before we leave?"

"I'll be up to see you before you go. Listen to Cordelia ok?"

"I promise I will behave and listen to her. Don't worry."

"Are you going to call Red and let her know that you got here okay?"

"I'll call her. She didn't really say much when I told her I was coming with you. I'll call her and let her know." Dawn assured Spike.

"Good. I'll see you in the morning sweet Bit."

"Goodnight Spike. Night guys." Dawn said to everyone as she headed upstairs to her temporary room.

"Sweet dreams Dawnie." Angel said.

Dawn smiled at him and continued up the stairs. Once they heard the door close Spike turned his attention to the others in the room that hadn't actually moved to go to bed themselves.

"Ask your questions." Spike simply said with a calm voice.

"It's none of our business." Fred simply said.

"But if Buffy is going crazy it would be nice to know." Cordelia said.

"She's not crazy." Spike said in Buffy's defense.

"So she didn't do that to you?" Gunn asked.

"No she did, but that doesn't make her crazy. I'm not human it's not that simple." Spike said.

"Can you fight back?" Cordelia asked.

"No not with the chip." Spike answered.

"Than it's that simple. She shouldn't be beating you up because you're a vampire when you can't even defend yourself. Just like she wouldn't do that to a human. Being a vampire doesn't change that you are no threat to her." Cordelia said.

"Exactly." Wesley agreed.

"Look I'm not one for vampires. Angel is the only one I have ever trusted or even liked. When I first found out you were here I was ready to go up and kill you, but you are actually pretty cool. You're not like other vampires. It's not right or fair for her to be beatin' on ya knowin' you can't fight back. It's not right." Gunn said.

"Where is she now?" Angel asked.

"She had to go away for this weekend work seminar. She won't be back until Sunday night." Spike answered.

"Who was going to watch Dawn? You didn't have plans of coming here so you weren't going to come until she went Wack-a-Mo on you." Cordelia asked.

"I don't know. Red and Glinda live there too so I'm assuming they were going to watch Niblet."

"Who?" Fred asked.

"Willow and Tara. Did Tara move back in?" Angel asked Spike. The last he had heard they had broken up due to Willow using too much magic and putting that memory spell on everyone.

"Not yet, but she's pretty much there every night." Spike answered.

"And is Willow still not using magic?" Wesley asked.

"She hasn't since the car crash with Niblet."

"Well that's good." Cordelia said.

"It's dangerous to be playing with the magics she had touched into. She's lucky she was able to get away from them without much of a problem." Wesley said.

"So Buffy, is she dangerous to humans or her friends?" Gunn asked.

"No she would never hurt a human or her friends. She's just having problems and in her own world right now is all. She wouldn't hurt anyone." Spike said.

"But it's okay for her to keep hurting you? How is that right?" Cordelia asked.

"I'll figure something out. Don't have worry about me Luv." Spike said with a smile.

"Yes well I think it's been a long day for all of us. I am going to head home and get some sleep myself." Wesley said.

"I'm tired too." Fred agreed.

"I'll see you guys in the morning." Angel said as he got up from the couch with Spike.

"Good night." Cordelia said with a smile.

They both headed upstairs for Angel's room. Angel could feel that Spike was struggling with his emotions as they talked about Buffy. Angel knew that Spike needed some time to be away from everyone so he could finally breakdown and begin to heal from what happened. They got into the room and Angel closed the door. Spike went over to the bed, but he didn't sit down. Angel came up behind him and wrapped his arms around Spike. He laid his head on Spike's shoulder after giving him a kiss on the cheek.

"It's okay we're alone and Dawn is sleeping or soon to be sleeping. It's just us. Let it out my Childe it's okay just let it out." Angel said softly and gently.

"It shouldn't bother me this much. Vampires don't feel we all know that so why does this hurt so much? It's been over a hundred years why do I still feel so human?" Spike said as the tears built up in his eyes.

"Because you have always been special William. You're rare and that's not a bad thing. You still have all of your human emotions that's what makes you so special and unique. I wish I could take this pain away from you, but I can't. I can be here for you though and hold you for as long as you need me to. Just let it out baby." Angel said as he kissed Spike's cheek again.

Spike let the tears fall and he felt Angel's arms turn him around and hold him against his chest. Angel held Spike tight against his chest and he let Spike cry out his pain. He gently got them to sit down on the bed against the pillows. Spike curled into Angel more and Angel rubbed soothing circles on the back of Spike's neck.

"Its' okay Will just let it out." Angel said soothingly.

Spike stayed curled up into Angel's chest for a good ten minutes before the tears had stopped and he had gotten his breathing back under control. Angle always thought it was interesting and adorable that Spike still breathed even though he didn't need to. Once he was back under control Spike pushed up off from Angel and wiped his cheeks as he spoke.

"I'm sorry."

"You have nothing to apologise for. You've been through so much in the past few years. Most wouldn't have survived the first year, but you've been able to handle all of this on your own. The only difference is now you don't have to. If I had it my way you and Dawnie wouldn't be leaving here on Sunday or ever for that matter. She's amazing."

"I told you she was. She's my Niblet and I love her like a little sister."

"I can see why you do. She's a good girl, but she seems to be struggling a little. Her eyes have some pain in them."

Spike let out a sigh before he got up off the bed and started to pace around from the end of the bed to the window. Spike had seen the pain in Dawn's eyes as well and he didn't know what to do about it. Angel knew he didn't say anything wrong, Spike just needed some time to figure out what he was going to say and how he was feeling. Angel sat there patiently waiting for when Spike was ready. Spike started to talk as he slowly continued to pace.

"She's had that pain in her eyes even before Buffy died. After a few months though it started to go away. She started to adjust to how life was going to be like without her mum and Buffy. Then Red plays with magics that she has no business playing with and brings her back. Now the pain is worse than ever. Buffy died and she accepted it and was starting to move on now she's back, but she's not really back. It's not Buffy that came back, it's just an angry shell. Having her back was worse than not having her at all on the Little Bit. Now Buffy just ignores her or doesn't even talk to her. She's left all alone in that house because Red is too busy being with Glinda and the Whelp and Demon girl are too busy with their own lives. Watcher up and left right after the funeral. No one has been there for her except me and now with Buffy being back I can't be there as often as I was. She's fifteen and being forced to raise herself. I don't know what to do about her. I don't know how to get that pain out of her eyes when every day she is there she's just reminded of what she doesn't have anymore."

"Realistically there is nothing you can do to ease the pain. Only time can. Buffy is different and she may never be the woman she was before all of this happened. Dawn has to try and accept that and move on, but at the same time it's not fair to her. She's the fifteen year old, she's the child in this situation and it shouldn't be on her to be the adult. At least Buffy is working so she's paying her bills right?" Angel asked worried that that will fall on Spike's shoulders as well.

"No she's not paying the bills or her mum's outstanding debt from credit cards and hospital bills. I don't know what she is doing with her money, but it's not going towards the household or Niblet." Spike said as he shook his head.

"Let me guess you're paying the bills." Angel stated calmly.

"It's fine I've been working, debt will take longer, but I'll get it down. The debt is through the same bank as her mortgage and they are threatening to take the house to pay off the debt if payments are not made. The Niblet doesn't know she thinks Buffy has is under control and that's why she's working so much. I don't even know if she's working that much or just telling the Niblet she is so she doesn't have to be there."

"Where else would she go?"

"I don't know, not with me. Maybe she has some other bloke she's playing around with. I don't know. I don't really care it's just not fair to the Niblet."

"It's not fair to Dawn and it's not fair to you. You shouldn't have to worry about paying their bills or the debt. How much is the debt?" Angel asked concerned that Spike will stretch himself too thin.

"About nine grand."

"Shit. You can't pay that back William."

"It'll take some time, but I'm working and making decent money I'll make it work. I'm not gonna have the Niblet be homeless or lose the only home she's ever known. I'm worried about her though. I don't like this Janice bird she keeps hangin' out with. I don't think she's a good influence. Especially after last Halloween."

"What happened last Halloween?"

"They lied and said they were going to spend the night at the other's place and then went out for some mischief. Niblet ended up making out with this boy she didn't even know who turned out to be a vampire and then they both got attacked by his pack. We got there just before he was going to bite her and she didn't even fight back at first. If we hadn't gotten there she could have been turned."

"That's a dangerous game to play on the Hellmouth. Traditionally Halloween is when it's safe for children to be outside, but that tradition started with the old. The new vampires don't care for tradition and half of them don't have sires to teach them the rules. How did Buffy handle that?"

"She didn't. She let the Watcher handle it. Then he feels like with him being around she isn't taking on the responsibilities like she's supposed to be so he takes off. That didn't exactly work though. It's a different time now, a different age. Back when we were Niblet's age we didn't have anything scandalous to do that got us in trouble. Women didn't show their ankles for Christ sakes. Now though there's drinking, drugs, sex, crimes and vampires. If she gets into trouble social services will pop by again and it's going to be pretty hard to explain why the bills are being paid from a different bank account from someone who technically isn't alive. Niblet could be taken away and put into a foster home or group home. I don't understand why Buffy doesn't see that or is even bothered by it."

"I know this isn't a thought you really want to have, but what if Buffy did come back wrong? You said that the resurrection spell was interrupted that they didn't even know if it worked. Maybe she did come back wrong." Angel said gently.

"I don't even want to think about that. The consequences of that, I don't even want to know what that would be like. What it would do to the Bit. I just hope Buffy sees what she's screwing up before it's too late."

Spike placed his left hand down on the footboard and placed his right hand on his left ribs. Angel could see the pain clear in Spike's eyes and right now Spike needed sleep.

"You need rest to heal William. Let's go to bed and we can try and figure this out tomorrow." Angel said calmly.

Spike gave a nod and he went over to the right side of the bed. He pulled out the cell phone and set his alarm for eight thirty so he could see Dawn before she left in the morning. Angel got up and took his clothes off as Spike removed his shirt, socks and boots. He normally slept naked, but he didn't want Angel to see just how bruised up he was. Angel got under the covers and he was surprised that Spike didn't remove his pants. Angel knew sleeping in jeans was not something Spike did nor would it be comfortable. Spike was lying down and Angel was sitting up under the covers beside him.

"You can take off your jeans you know." Angel said calmly with a smile.

Spike looked down and Angel knew that he didn't take them off because he was shy, Spike was never shy. That's when Angel remembered that Buffy had hurt his manhood and he was trying to keep Angel from seeing it. Angel placed his hand on Spike's cheek and rubbed his thumb along his cheek.

"It's okay let me see."

"Angel." Spike said in a whisper.

"Hey it's not your fault what she did to you. You didn't do anything wrong. Will you let me see?" Angel asked softly.

Spike looked down again as he thought. He knew Angel wasn't going to hurt him, but he was still embarrassed and ashamed at what happened to him. He didn't want Angel to think less of him. He didn't want to lose Angel again. He didn't know what he would do if he lost Angel again.

"I'm not going to think less of you William. I told you I'm not going anywhere. There is nothing you could tell me that would make me walk away. I believe in you William. Let me see what she did to you." Angel said calmly.

Spike swallowed the lump in his throat as he gave a small nod. Angel moved his hands down to Spike's pants. He undid the button and unzipped them and slowly pulled them down. Spike lifted his hips slightly to allow his jeans to come off. Once they were removed Angel could see the bruising on Spike's lean legs and the dark bruising on his manhood. The bruising that covered Spike's chest was just as dark. Angel felt a rage going through him at seeing Spike this beat up once again. He also felt this strong desire to try and make Spike feel better. Angel leaned down and placed a kiss to one of the bruises on Spike's chest. Spike closed his eyes as he felt Angel gently kissing his bruised chest. Angel kissed his way up to Spike's neck and Spike leaned his head to the side to allow better access. Angel also noticed the deep act of submission, but he fought to ignore that call to his demon. Angel kissed Spike's neck and made his way over to Spike's mouth. Spike kissed Angel back with just as much passion as Angel had. Spike put his hands on the back of Angel's neck to bring him closer. Angel licked Spike's lips to ask for entrance and Spike happily gave it to him. When he felt Angel's tongue against his Spike couldn't help but moan. They were both hard and Angel moved so he was between Spike's legs rubbing their hard ons together. Both moaned at the sensation and Angel had to stop himself to remember that Spike had just been raped by Buffy and he wasn't going to put him through anything that he wasn't sure about. He was also still in pain and Angel didn't want to make that worse. Angel stopped kissing Spike and moved back to his neck. Angel knew what he was going to do, he was going to make Spike feel better and if Spike needed him to stop then he would. Angel kissed Spike's neck before he whispered in his ear.

"Just tell me to stop and I will."

"Please don't stop." Spike moaned back.

Angel kissed back down Spike's chest, kissing each and every bruise and cut on his torso. Angel could feel Spike breathing and he never noticed before how much he loved that Spike breathed still. He always kept part of his human self and it was just one more part he kept even though he didn't need it. Angel made his way lower and he gently kissed the bruising on Spike's hard on. Spike let out a moan and Angel continued to kiss the bruising on Spike's hard on. Angel then looked up at Spike and he didn't see any pain in his face, only pleasure. Angel licked Spike's hard on from the base all the way to the tip causing Spike to let out a long moan. Spike couldn't even remember the last time he had gotten head. Buffy was never one to do it and he hadn't been with anyone since Harmony. Spike thought he was going to die when he felt Angel take him into his hot mouth.

"Oh fuck." Spike groaned as Angel took him all the way.

Angel hadn't ever done this before. He had it done to him plenty of times, but he had never done it himself. He still knew what felt good and he could tell he was making Spike feel good by the way he was moaning. Angel continued to be gentle with Spike not sucking too hard and making sure he didn't hit him with his teeth. Angel knew Spike was getting closer as his breathing picked up.

"Liam." Spike moaned as he cam into Angel's mouth.

Angel swallowed what Spike gave him, loving the taste as it hit his tongue. Angel moved his mouth off from Spike's dick and kissed his way back up Spike's chest and once he was close enough Spike grabbed him by the back of the neck and pulled him into a kiss. Angel groaned into the kiss and he was trying his best to ignore his own hard on that was just pulsing with need. Spike rolled them over so he was between Angel's legs and he deepened the kiss. After a moment Spike pulled back and started to kiss on Angel's neck. Angel knew what Spike was thinking and he didn't want him to feel obligated to do it. Angel could all too clearly remember the only night they had spent together how he had forced Spike to give him head. He didn't want Spike to feel like he had to return the favor.

"You don't have to William." Angel said with a heavy breath.

Spike moved his mouth back to Angel's as he spoke against him and kissed him between the words.

"I want to taste you again. Let me taste you Liam."

Angel groaned and he pulled Spike in for a passionate, hard kiss. Spike submitted to Angel and his tongue and allowed him to take control. After a moment Spike stopped the kiss and started to kiss down Angel's chest. Spike took a long slow lick of Angel's dick and he felt Angel take a deep unneeded breath in. Spike took Angel into his mouth and he instantly waited for when Angel would take over, but he didn't. This time Angel let Spike have complete control and Spike found himself truly enjoying this. He experimented a little by sucking on Angel's tip causing Angel to let out a deep moan. Spike had only ever done this with Angel once before and it wasn't exactly a pleasurable experience. They were both drunk that night, but Angel was Angelus and he was rough and violent. This time around Spike had the control to please Angel and Angel had given him something he never thought he would. Angel had given Spike head and swallowed his cum. Spike never thought that would ever happen. Spike was enjoying giving Angel head and feeling him moaning and squirming for release underneath him. Spike took Angel all the way and Angel let out a loud moan. Angel was big and thick so it was very rare for anyone to be able to take him all the way in. Spike had been the only person to ever be able to handle it and it was enough to push him over the edge.

"William." Angel moaned as he cam deep into Spike's mouth. Spike swallowed all of it and he continued to suck on Angel until he had nothing left. Spike moved his head off from Angel's dick and Angel reached up and pulled Spike into a kiss not even caring about tasting himself on Spike's tongue. After a few moments Angel stopped kissing Spike and just looked into his eyes. Spike looked at Angel and he could see and feel the caring and emotions that Angel felt towards him. They didn't love each other, but there was no denying that they cared deeply for each other. Angel gave Spike one last kiss before he rolled them over so Spike was laying on his side facing Angel. Angel continued to kiss Spike gently and slowly before he gave him one last kiss on the lips before he spoke.

"You need sleep William." Angel whispered.

"It's not so easy recently." Spike whispered back.

"Why not?" Angel asked gently.

"I keep dreamin' of the girls I've killed around Niblet's age. I keep thinkin' how they all had parents and friends or siblings. Maybe they had older brothers that had to bury them. It's been a long time since I've felt guilt or remorse, but I'm pretty sure I remember it feeling like this."

"When did this start?" Angel asked with concern.

"Almost a year now. Ever since I've been lookin' after the Niblet I've been remembering how people aren't just food. They have lives and people who love them and miss them. I feel bad about it, about all of their lives, the lives I've taken. I keep thinking about what if it had been Niblet, my Niblet that got killed by some vamp. I don't know what I would do without her and I know all of those families would have felt so much pain at losing those girls. The girls I killed. I don't know how it's possible for me to feel guilt and remorse over it, because I shouldn't, but I do."

"You've always been different than other vamps. You're always been able to hold on to your human emotions no matter what anyone did to you. No matter what I did to you." Angel said with hurt in his voice.

"Hey you didn't do those things, Angelus did, a demon did. You're not him anymore and let's be realistic here I'm no saint. We've both made mistakes and we'll make others, but I'm not holding any of it against you. It's a different time and we're different people I want to focus on that."

"So do I. We'll get through this together. I know what it's like to feel that remorse and guilt. We'll get through it together."

Spike tilted his head up and placed a gentle kiss on Angel's lips before he moved his head back.

"Goodnight Liam." Spike whispered.

"Goodnight William." Angel whispered back.

Spike curled up into Angel's chest and Angel held him against his chest and closed his eyes just enjoying the feeling of having Spike in his arms.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The alarm went off at eight thirty the next morning and Spike woke up still wrapped up in Angel's arms. Spike had been able to sleep all night without any nightmares and he felt so good to be able to sleep longer than a couple of hours at a time. He reluctantly moved out of Angel's arms and reached for his phone to turn off the alarm. He really didn't want to wake up, but he wanted to be there for Dawn in the morning before she left with Cordelia. Angel woke up once he heard the alarm and felt Spike move. Angel moved his left hand over to Spike's back and started to trace gentle circles on it.

"Are you coming back to bed or are you going to get up for the day?" Angel asked calmly.

"That depends."

"On?"

Spike turned his head to look at Angel as he spoke. "If you are getting dressed or not." Spike said with a smirk.

"Well that also depends. If you weren't going to come back then I'll get dressed. If you plan on coming back then I don't see much of a reason to get dressed." Angel said with a smile.

"Well with reasoning like that how could I possibly stay away? I'll be back once the Niblet is off."

"I'll be right here then." Angel said with a smile.

Spike got up and went over to his jeans.

"Are you peckish?" Spike asked as he got dressed.

"I could eat."

"I'll bring some up for ya then."

"As long as you bring some for yourself. You're still thinner than normal."

"I know. I'm working on it." Spike said as he put his shirt on.

"You're still sexy though in case you were worried."

"I wasn't, but it's always nice to hear. I'll be back shortly."

"I'll be waiting."

Spike left the room and headed downstairs to the lobby to see if Dawn was up and moving. He headed down there and saw that Dawn was already up in the lobby just finishing something to eat. Spike smiled at her as he spoke.

"Morning Niblet."

"Morning Spike. I was starting to think you weren't going to be up."

"I told you I would be Pet. I'll be right back just in need of a pint."

Dawn just gave a nod and Spike headed into the kitchen to grab a mug of blood. He walked in and saw that Cordelia was in the kitchen with a cup of coffee.

"Mornin'." Spike said as he walked in and over to the fridge.

"Good morning. So do you care how long I have her out or where?" Cordelia asked.

"Not really with the obvious exceptions." Spike said as he started to warm up some blood.

"Don't worry I couldn't get her into a strip club no matter what I do." Cordelia said with a smile.

"Good to know." Spike said.

"I'll have her back by dinner don't worry. I think she could use the girl's day out."

"She really does. I appreciate it Pet." Spike said sincerely.

"Not a problem. I don't really get to do much girly stuff anymore. It'll be nice to just go out and have a girl's day."

"Can you do me a favor?"

"I can try."

"She tells me things, but I know she doesn't tell me everything. You don't have to tell me what she says, but could you talk to her about her friends and school please? A social worker has already been by the house once before and we were able to prevent the Niblet from being taken away, but I don't think we can pull that off again. She's having a hard time and I don't want her to get out of control. If you wouldn't mind talkin' to her and just makin' sure she isn't going crazy."

"I'll talk to her and see what she says. I won't tell you anything unless I think you need to know. I'll check in on her and make sure she isn't doing anything that will put her in danger."

"Thanks Pet. I appreciate it." Spike said before he took his mug out of the microwave.

"Buffy isn't keeping an eye on Dawn? She doesn't know about her life?"

"No she isn't. They don't even talk much from what the Niblet has told me. She talks to me, but I don't think she'll tell me everything. She might tell you more than me."

"I'll see what I can do, but unless it's something bad I'm not gonna tell ya."

"That's fine I don't care. I just want to make sure there isn't any risk or threat of her being taken away."

"I'll talk to her don't worry."

"Ta Pet." Spike drank his blood before he got another mug full and took it out to the lobby where Dawn was.

"I don't think I need to tell you to behave yourself today Niblet." Spike said as he sat down across from Dawn.

"I'll behave I'm not a kid Spike."

"I know you aren't. I want you to go out and have fun today. Enjoy the girly time." Spike said with a smile.

"Oh I will for sure. I'm so excited I've never been in L.A before and now I get to go exploring with Cordelia. She seems really cool." Dawn said with a smile.

"That she does Pet. This is for you." Spike pulled out some cash from his pocket and handed it over to Dawn.

Dawn took it with a smile and was shocked to see that Spike had given her five hundred dollars.

"Are you kidding me right now?"

"No I'm not. Go out and have fun and buy some clothes if you want. Just enjoy being a girl today."

"Thank-you Spike. This is going to be awesome." Dawn said with a huge smile.

"You got that right. I have Angel's credit card." Cordelia said with a devilish smile.

"Uh-oh." Spike said jokingly.

"Are you all set?" Cordelia asked Dawn.

"I'm so ready I just need to grab my coat." Dawn said as she got up and went into the kitchen to put her plate into the sink before she headed upstairs to grab her coat. Once she had her coat she went back down the stairs and gave Spike a hug before she said her goodbye and her and Cordelia headed out. Spike went back into the kitchen and warmed up two more mugs of blood before he headed back upstairs to Angel. Spike walked in and closed the door to see that Angel was sitting up in bed still naked under the covers. Spike went over to the bed and handed Angel his mug before he placed his mug down and removed all of his clothes before he got into bed and downed his blood.

"Did Dawn get off ok?" Angel asked after he drank his blood.

"She did with a huge smile on her face. Gave her some dosh to go shoppin' with and Cordelia was all smiles as she left with your credit card." Spike said with a smile.

"Of course she did." Angel said with a small shake of his head.

"Should I have tried to stop her?"

"No it's fine she's done it before. Did they say when they would be back?"

"Naw Cordelia said she would be back by dinner. I told her it was fine. I did ask for her to talk to the Niblet and see if there was anything I was missing out on. She said she would."

"If there is something going on Cordy will be able to find it. Don't worry Cordy will find out everything she can."

"I hope she doesn't find anything out. I hope the Niblet isn't hiding anything from me."

"She's bound to be hiding a few things from you, she's a teenager after all."

"I don't care if she's hiding the small things. I know she's hiding small things I care about her hiding big things. Big things that could get her taken away from me and her home."

"If there is something Cordy will find out and she'll let you know. Trust me on this one." Angel said as he placed his hand on Spike's right cheek.

"I do trust you and I know Cordelia will find out everything she can. In the mean time we have the whole day to ourselves and I can think of one thing that I would love to do." Spike said with a smirk.

"Oh and what might that be?" Angel asked with his own smirk as he leaned in closer to Spike.

"This." Spike said as he placed his hand on the back of Angel's neck and brought him down to him and kissed him.

Angel was more than happy to kiss Spike and he couldn't believe how much he had missed being with Spike. That one night a long time ago was nowhere near enough to settle Angel's demon and now having Spike back in his arms and in his bed Angel's demon wanted him even more. Spike moved towards Angel and he straddled Angel's naked hips as Angel sat against his pillows. Spike could feel Angel's hard on against his ass and he couldn't help but wiggle his butt a little. Angel let out a small growl at the movement and Spike smirked at Angel's reaction.

"I want you." Spike said against Angel's lips.

"William, are you sure? I don't mind waiting after what happened." Angel said softly and Spike could feel the desire radiating off from Angel.

"I want you. Make me yours finally. I want to be yours Liam."

"Are you sure?" Angel asked making sure that there was no doubt in Spike.

"More than I've ever been in my existence."

"Then we are going to do this right. Not like last time. Lay back for me baby."

Spike moved so he was on his back and Angel reached over to the nightstand and took our some lube. He then moved so he was between Spike's legs. Angel bent down and started to kiss Spike again while he put some lube on three of his fingers. As he kissed Spike he slowly inserted one of his fingers and Spike moaned as Angel's finger went into him. It didn't hurt and Spike was actually thankful that Angel was taking the time to do this and prepare him. No one ever has before and Spike was enjoying this. Angel slowly worked in a second finger and then a third by the time Spike was loosened up he was moaning and breathing heavy.

"Liam please I'm ready I need you so bad." Spike said with a heavy breath.

Angel moaned and he removed his fingers. He added more lube to his own hard on before he gently started to insert himself into Spike's still tight hole. Angel took it slow and by the time he was all the way inside of Spike they were both moaning and just loving the feel of each other. Angel didn't move for a few minutes just kissing Spike, because it felt so good to be back inside of Spike. It felt like home, which was insane because they had only ever done this once and they were both drunk as hell. It shouldn't feel this good, like his soul was screaming out in joy at finally finding what it was looking for. Spike was the one that Angel had been looking for and Angel couldn't even begin to think of the irony in all of this.

Slowly Angel started to pull out all of the way and then slowly pushed back in. Both of them were moaning and Spike wrapped his legs around Angel's hips to encourage him to go faster. Angel taking Spike's cue started to move faster until he was pounding into Spike hard and deep, deeper than he ever thought possible. The whole time they both couldn't believe how amazing it felt.

"Oh fuck don't stop." Spike moaned out as he felt himself getting pushed to the edge.

Angel started to kiss Spike's neck and Spike moved his head so Angel would have complete access to his neck. Angel's demon roared inside of him at the submissiveness of Spike, but Angel told Spike they were going to do this right. It wasn't going to be about Sire and Childe or submitting. They were equals and Angel wanted Spike to know that completely.

"You don't have to wait for permission. When you're ready do it baby." Angel whispered into Spike's ear.

Spike moaned deep at the words that Angel had said to him. Spike didn't have to wait and see if Angel would let him, he was giving him the ultimate gift. The true gift of being equals. He wasn't having to submit to Angel, they were equals and he could bite him when he felt his release breaking through. Spike knew that Angel was close when he started to kiss and suck on Spike's neck. The action was enough to bring Spike close to and he started to kiss and suck on Angel's neck as well. When they were both ready to blow they felt the other's teeth sink into them and as blood filled each other's mouth they both cam hard and long. After a minute they both let go of the other's neck and Angel collapsed down next to Spike, but still kept half of his body in contact with Spike's. Angel turned Spike's head so he could kiss him and they spent the next ten minutes just kissing each other. After ten minutes they were both hard once again and Spike smirked at the blessing and a curse of the vampire stamina. This time around though he thought it was a blessing. Spike rolled them over so he was straddling Angel's hips once again and he didn't even waste a second before he slid Angel into him. Angel moaned as Spike began to move above him. Angel knew that eventually this would have to stop, but for now Angel was just going to enjoy every second of this before he had to come back to reality.

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Dawn and Cordelia were walking down the street as they went from shop to shop. They were currently heading down to get something to eat for lunch. Cordelia hadn't brought anything up yet, because she wanted Dawn to feel like she could talk to her. Cordelia figured lunch was the best time to get to the gossip. They arrived at the restaurant and they took a seat out on the patio and after the drinks were brought over Cordelia started.

"So Dawnie, tell me what's been going on back in Sunnydale." Cordelia asked with a smile.

"Well Buffy has been working at the Doublemeat Palace. Willow and Tara are working out their relationship and Xander and Anya are planning their wedding." Dawn started.

"And that's great, but I don't care. What's going on with you? How's school? How's life? Help me out here I am surrounded by men and Fred. Don't get me wrong she is a sweet girl, but she doesn't do the girly things or gossips. So please tell me something good." Cordelia said with a smile.

"Well… this stays between us? You aren't going to go back and spill your guts to Spike?" Dawn asked slightly unsure.

"I swear it stays right here between us. Just two girls having fun and talking about their life. I know what it's like to be in your position. I remember being in high school and not being able to tell my friends what I know. It was hard and I know it must be hard on you." Cordelia said sympathetically.

"It has been hard. Sometimes I wish I didn't have to go through it all, but it's not Buffy's fault that she is what she is. It does get hard though when I want to tell my best friend, Janice, but I can't."

"Ya that does suck. It's not easy to tell someone and you run the risk of them laughing at you and not talking to you. You can always talk to me. I'm not someone that you see every day or have some history with. I know it can be hard when people only see you as this one type of person. I'm sure Xander and all of them still think I'm that cheerleader that can't fight or do much good. I'm not though and it's annoying that they would only see me as that."

"That's exactly what it's like with me and them. They only see me as this little kid that they have to protect. Like research. They're all like I can't do it because I could see something that will scar me. I found out that I'm a magical mystic ball of energy and I watched as my sister died then came back to life. What could I possibly see in a book that would scar me for life?"

"Probably nothing much. Is Spike like that too?"

"Not really. He's told me stories before from his history or from things he's seen. He never really treated me like a kid. Maybe because he didn't know me when I was a kid, or technically not, you know what I mean."

"Ya I do, go on."

"He treats me like a person. When Buffy died he practically moved in to take care of me. He was the only one that remembered I was a person and I have feelings like everyone else. He's like a big brother to me or even kinda like a father. He's my protector and I know he loves me. I don't care what anyone says about vampires not being able to feel love or anything. I know Spike loves me."

"I don't care what anyone tells you, you listen to me. Spike does care and he does love you. Spike has always been different and you can ask Angel that or read one of the books that have been written just about Spike and how rare he is. Spike feels emotions just as much as humans do. He didn't take care of you for Buffy, because she was dead. There was no need for him to go through all of that. He did it because he loves and cares about you. You can count on Spike."

"Thank-you you have no idea how good it feels to have someone agree with me and see my point. Buffy and Xander have been telling me how bad Spike is and how I'm not allowed around him, but he's the only one that's around."

"Ok I get that the others are busy with their own lives and whatnot, but what about Buffy? She can't be working that much that she doesn't have time for a movie night or something." Cordelia asked casually, but she was concerned for Dawn. She had been through a lot and she needed someone there for her. Someone that could be there during daylight hours.

"Apparently not. She's barely in the house I swear it's like she has this secret life or something. She says she's working all of these hours and then patrolling, but then we don't have any food and there's no money for it. It makes no sense. We've been getting bills about our utilities being shut off and when I called the company posing as Buffy they said that the bills had been paid in full. Buffy didn't even know about it she figured it must have been Giles or something. But I think Spike did it. He's been working a lot in the past two weeks, more so than he normally does. I think he's paying the bills and if he is then where is all of Buffy's money going if it's not going to food?" Dawn said obviously annoyed.

"I don't know, maybe there's some debt she is paying off from everything that happened." Cordelia suggested and she made a mental note to ask Angel about it.

"I don't know maybe. That doesn't make it fair to Spike to be paying everything and Buffy either knows and doesn't care or she doesn't even know what's going on and she doesn't care. I don't know what's worse. Spike just keeps getting kicked around and ignored. He's injured again and I know he was injured two weeks ago, but he won't tell me how bad. I understand why he doesn't want me to worry, but I know he was injured pretty badly for him to leave like that and be gone for so long. He's looking after me, but who's looking after him?" Dawn said sadly.

"Angel is looking after Spike and you are there for him. He's family and so are you. Around here we look after family." Cordelia said in a serious voice.

Their food was brought over and once the waitress left Cordelia spoke again.

"Okay enough about Buffy. Tell me about the good stuff. Do you have a boyfriend?" Cordelia asked with a smile.

"Well…" Dawn said with a big smile.

"Ok spill. It has been too long since I've had a good boy talk session."

"Ok, Well I don't really know if we are boyfriend and girlfriend. I mean he didn't exactly ask me out or say that we are that, but we aren't seeing anyone else so I think that counts right?"

"It counts. The older you get the more you will realise that there isn't really any labels anymore. No one actually says will you be my girlfriend, it just becomes a thing. You spend more time together and you both don't see anyone else either. You just become a couple. It's a thing. So what's his name? How old is he? Where did you meet? Hello details here." Cordelia said with a smile.

"His name is Jake and he's nineteen. We met at a college party. My best friend Janice she knows this guy Chris and he is a senior in high school. He's been hanging out with these college guys and we all got invited to this party. Jake was hosting it and we got to know each other. We played poker and thanks to Spike I was able to practically beat everyone but Jake. We were the only ones with clothes still on." Dawn said with a smile.

"Wait hold up clothes? Did you play strip poker?" Cordelia asked smoothly, but inside she was a little worried about this. Strip poker with college boys at just fifteen wasn't a recipe for a good thing.

"We had to prove that we could handle it and strip poker it was. It was fun and afterwards he was totally impressed and of my god he is so hot and such an amazing kisser."

"Kisser eh? Now we're getting somewhere." Cordelia said with a smile.

Dawn let out a giggle as she continued to eat.

"He's really good. I mean I had no idea something could feel that good. I mean wow. He's so good and I just want to spend all my time with him. We've gone to other parties the four of us afterwards and two weeks ago we spent the night in a hotel room with a hot tub. It was so much fun."

"Wow. A hotel room. Did something other than kissing happen in this room?" Cordelia asked with a smirk.

"The four of us spent the night and things may have happened. It's not really my thing, but we were drinking and things just kinda happened. It was fun though, but I also like just hanging out with him at his place watching movies curled up on his couch. He's a good guy and its nice having friends again."

"Drinking, oh to be a teenager again. Just be careful you never know when a guy puts something in your drink. That's not cool. And if you are having sex be careful and make sure you wear protection. The last thing you want is to be the teenager that's pregnant in school."

"We're safe don't worry and I don't leave my drink anywhere. I'm totally safe. It's just fun ya know. For a change. Everything has always been the world is going to end and I can't do anything because there might be a vampire out after sunset. It's not a life it's a prison. At least Spike doesn't get all up at me when I come back late or I go out at night. He understands that I have friends and I'm allowed to be a teenager with him. Buffy just doesn't care and would prefer me to be stuck in the house all alone all day and night. It's nice to have friends and just get out and do our own thing."

"It's important to be a normal teenager, just be careful. Too much partying and you could get into trouble and then that won't be good for anyone."

"I'll be careful. It's just some fun no big deal."

"Ok well just be safe and if you ever want to talk you can always call or text me and I'll get ya through."

"Awesome. You are so much cooler than Buffy says you are."

"Um ya. Of course she would say that she never did like me too much. Plus she got all weird when I moved out here to work with Angel. Oh well her problem not mine."

"She gets likes that for no reason. I mean she gets all huffy when someone is talking to an ex-boyfriend or even Spike. She doesn't want him yet she doesn't want him to be happy with someone else. It's so stupid." Dawn said as she rolled her eyes.

"That's the thing with emotions they usually are stupid. I'm sure Spike will find someone really great who will love him back and be there for him." Cordelia said with a smile as she thought about how Angel was with Spike last night.

"I hope so, because he deserves it."

They spent the rest of their lunch just talking about what had been going on with Dawn and her school work and Cordelia had talked about what had been going on with her life and work. It wasn't until five o'clock did they finally come back into the hotel with dinner. They walked in with their shopping bags and a couple boxes of pizza to see everyone just hanging around the lobby.

"We bought pizza." Dawn said with a smile.

"Good we're starving." Gunn said with a smile.

Dawn went over to Spike and kissed his cheek with a huge smile.

"Have fun little Bit?"

"So much fun. Today was awesome. I'm going to put these in my room. So excited to show Janice them on Monday. You rock." Dawn said before she headed up the stairs.

Spike smiled as Cordelia came over to them.

"Thanks Luv for giving her a good time." Spike said with a smile.

"Oh believe me it was my pleasure. She's a lot of fun and it felt so good to have a girl's day out together. And when said girl goes to bed tonight, we need to have a conversation, the level headed kind."

"Does that mean what I think it means?" Spike said in a serious voice.

"It means that we need to have a small conversation and it's not as bad as you are probably thinking. Just relax and we'll talk later." Cordelia said as she turned to head up the stairs to put her own bags away.

Spike turned to look at Angel as he spoke.

"How bad do you think it is? You know her can you tell how bad?"

"If it was really bad she would have pulled you aside and told you now. It's probably just normal teenage stuff that Dawn is getting into and she just wants you to have a heads up."

"I told her I didn't care about normal teenage stuff. That she could keep that information to herself and only tell me the big serious stuff."

"Don't worry about it right now. Let's wait for Dawn to go to bed and then Cordy will be able to tell us." Angel said calmly.

"Us?" Spike asked slightly confused.

"Yes us. You're not alone in this William. We'll figure it out together."

Dawn came running back down the stairs and headed into the kitchen to grab some pizza. Spike had to let it go for now, but once Dawn was asleep he was going to be speaking to Cordelia to see what happened.

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It was finally ten o'clock and Dawn had headed up to bed. They had spent the last five hours just talking about what Dawn and Cordelia did today and what everyone else was up to. Spike could see the others had been eyeing both Angel's and his neck. They didn't try to hide the bite marks and he knew they would be saying something eventually, but they would wait until he left with Dawn before they cornered Angel about it. Spike didn't know how Angel would handle it, but he was hoping that they wouldn't make Angel change his mind. Spike honestly didn't think he would be able to survive if he lost either Angel or Dawn now. Once the others left to go home or to bed Cordelia stayed. They were sitting down in the lobby on the couches when Cordelia finally spoke.

"Remember you need to stay level headed and you can't let Dawn know that I told you this. Otherwise she might not tell me anything again and we could miss something seriously wrong."

"So there is nothing seriously wrong?" Angel asked.

"It's just normal teenager shit, but it could turn into something worse, especially with Buffy not being around like she should be." Cordelia said.

"Ok so what is going on?" Spike asked.

"She has a boyfriend, Jake, I don't know his last name. She's been seeing him for about a month now. He's a freshmen in college so he's nineteen. She went with Janice and Janice's boyfriend Chris to a college party a month ago while you were here. She met some college people and she played strip poker with Jake and a few other people. She wanted to fit in."

"She what?" Spike asked cutting off Cordelia.

"I know it's not the best situation." Cordelia said calmly.

"She's fifteen I didn't teach her poker to go and play it in the nude with a room full of blokes she doesn't know." Spike said clearly angry.

"I know and it's not a good idea. I told her to be careful, but I couldn't exactly lecture her, because I don't want her thinking or feeling like she can't tell me things. She needs to tell someone and she's not going to tell you, because you've become the parent and there are just things you don't tell your parents." Cordelia said.

"What else did she tell you?" Angel asked.

"Her and Jake have been dating for the past month and in that month she has been going to other parties and seeing him quite a lot. She's been drinking, the four of them are usually together. She's also had sex with him and two weeks ago they all went to a hotel and I think you can figure out what happened between the four of them." Cordelia said nervously.

"I'm gonna kill him." Spike said with anger as he stood up and started to pace around.

"You can't he's human and you can't hurt a human. I can on the other hand." Angel said with his own anger.

"This isn't normal stupid teenager shit. Not all teenagers have orgies and play strip poker." Spike said with anger.

"It's not, but the drinking and partying is." Cordelia started, but Spike cut her off.

"I don't care about that. Drinking and partying fine, whatever. I can't lecture her over something that I do. As long as she is being careful and being around responsible people I don't care if she drinks. She's going to do it eventually. I care about her having sex with a nineteen year old bloke and having orgies with him. Are they doing drugs too?" Spike asked.

"She didn't say anything about drugs. There's a chance that she might have tried it along the way. College parties are always swimming with different drugs. I told her to make sure she was safe and wears protection. You can't make her stop having sex though, she's gonna do what she wants to." Cordelia said sympathetically.

"This is my fault I should have been there more for her since Buffy came back." Spike said sadly as he shook his head.

"No this not your fault William. You've done everything you can do for her. You're paying all of her bills and being there for her whenever you can. You text her during the day and at night. You take her out to dinner and hang out at your place with her. You're doing more than you should have to." Angel said.

"He's right. Buffy isn't around and when she is she just ignores her. Buffy is the one in the wrong in this and Dawn is the one paying for it. She's acting out and trying to find a place where she belongs and has friends again. She's just doing it the wrong way. I think she was afraid that if she didn't play the poker or have sex that she would lose those friends. The hardest thing you have to do is not talk to her about it." Cordelia said.

"How can I not? How can I ignore this and let it get worse." Spike said back.

"I'm not saying you ignore it. I think you need to give it a few days and then take her to dinner and start talking about some of the stupid shit you did and see if she opens up to you. I think she'll tell you about her boyfriend and you might be able to get more out of her. If nothing else you now know and you can keep an eye on her. She has my number and she can text me and I'll keep an eye on her and see what she says. She's going to be out for the summer next month and then you can always bring her down here more often. I think it's a phase and once she sees that she has more people than she knows that care about her she'll go back to being a good girl. She just feels so alone right now."

"The others really aren't being around her much?" Angel asked.

"No they aren't. She wants to be involved with the group. She wants to understand about demons and help with research. She doesn't feel like part of the group and she really isn't, because everyone just seems to be ignoring her. She's finding that sense of belonging in all the wrong ways." Cordelia said.

"Maybe you should teach her some self-defence. Teach her about demons. She wants to be helpful and feel included in this life. So maybe you should teach her." Angel suggested.

"That wouldn't be a bad idea to teach her some fighting skills. That way when she is out at parties she can at least protect herself. It might make her feel more included and that she is a part of something." Cordelia said.

"I can do that. She can't get worse though, she's putting herself at risk of being taken away." Spike said with worry to his voice.

"I don't think she'll get worse at least not really quickly. You might be able to get her through this without her getting worse. Once she starts to see and feel that she has people in her life that care about her. I think she'll turn back around. What worries me is Buffy and how she is acting towards her." Cordelia said with concern.

"What did Dawn say about it?" Angel asked.

"She seems to believe that Buffy isn't paying the bills. She believes Spike is and I didn't confirm or correct her, because I don't actually know. She's also annoyed that if Buffy isn't paying the bills and she's going out every night to work then why there is no money for food. She doesn't really believe that Buffy is working all of these hours like she says she is. I don't know what she is doing, but Dawn thinks she's lying about how many hours she's actually working. She is obviously taking that personally and I can't blame her. No one is around and she's left to be home alone. That's not easy on her, especially after she lost her mom and then Buffy died and she found out she was this mystical key. It's a lot for someone to take in and whether she was human before, she is now. Everyone just seems to be ignoring her and forgetting that she exists. I don't know if maybe they feel that Dawn is responsible for what has happened or if subconsciously they are blaming her and that's why they have been acting this way around her. I couldn't tell you, but it's affecting her." Cordelia said.

Spike let out a sigh before he spoke. "I am the one paying the bills. I don't know what Buffy works I don't pay that close of attention to it. I'll keep an eye on it and see what she is up to. As for the others they need to see that this isn't the Niblet's fault. She didn't ask for any of this to happen. They need to see what their behaviour is doing to her. I'll start to teach her how to fight and about demons. As for the other shit I'll give it a few days like you said and then I'll see what I can get out of her." Spike said.

"I agree you need to speak to the others and get them to wake up. You're going to need their help to get Dawn back to normal." Angel said.

"Do you think anyone will?" Cordelia asked.

"I don't know. Glinda might help out. She cares about the Niblet and when Buffy was dead she helped out a lot. She probably will snap out of it." Spike answered.

"Well one is better than none. Just remember when you talk to her stay calm. Getting angry at her will only make her rebel against you and keep secrets. Neither of which is a good thing." Cordelia said.

"I'll be calm. I appreciate you doing this for me Pet." Spike said in a sincere voice.

"It's no problem. She needs more people in her life than just you. That's not on you, that's on nature. I'm happy to help. She's still so young." Cordelia said.

"We'll figure out how to get through this together. We aren't about to abandon Dawn." Angel said.

"It'll be fine, lots of teenagers do crazy stupid stuff. You were able to catch it early though so you can keep an eye on her and I'll do the same from here. We'll get through this." Cordelia said.

"Thanks Pet." Spike said with a small smile.

"It's no problem at all. Now I am going to head off to bed. I'll see you boys tomorrow." Cordelia said with a smile as she got up off the couch.

"Good night Cordy." Angel said.

"Good night."

Cordelia headed over towards the stairs and before she went up she turned to face them before she spoke.

"Oh and next time you two are sucking each other's necks make sure you have an explanation for the fifteen year old. She asked me about it in the kitchen earlier and I told her to ask you later." Cordelia said with a smirk before she headed up the stairs to her room.

Angel got up and went over to Spike. He pulled him into a hug.

"Come on, let's head up to the room we can talk in there." Angel said gently.

Spike gave a nod and they both made sure everything was locked up and the lights were out before they headed upstairs to their room. Once inside the room they both took their clothes off and went over and crawled under the covers. Angel pulled Spike on his chest and Spike curled into Angel's arms. Angel rubbed the back of Spike's neck to try and relax him.

"What do you want me to tell the Niblet when she asks about the bite mark?" Spike whispered.

"It's your choice. When the others ask me I'm not going to lie to them. I have no problem hiding this if that's what you want to do, but I don't want to hide this between us. I know we're playing it by year and that's fine with me, but I don't want to lie either."

"I don't want to hide this either. I just wasn't sure how you felt about it."

"I'm not ashamed of what we're doing. I care about you. I have for a long time. I just was horrible at showing it. Our time just wasn't then and maybe our time isn't now, but I'd like to try and find out."

"Me too. I don't care who knows about this."

"Good then we won't hide it. You know what is going on with Dawn is not your fault William."

"It feels like it is. Like I should have seen this."

"That's bullshit. You've done everything you can for her. You're paying for all of the bills. You're there for her when everyone else isn't. You're doing everything you can. People aren't meant to be raised by one person. That saying it takes a village to raise a child is true. You need help with her."

"I'll talk to the others and hopefully they will be able to snap out of it and help out. I can understand where she is coming from. The feeling like everyone has abandoned her. They need to see what their behaviour is doing to her. I won't tell them, but hopefully I can talk some sense into one of them."

"I hope so. She doesn't deserve this treatment. It doesn't matter if she wasn't born human she is now and they should treat her as one. You know I'll be there for you whenever you need the help."

"I know and I can't tell you how much I appreciate it. I don't think I could survive without you and the Niblet."

"We're not going anywhere. I've screwed up a lot in the past and I'm not going to be making those same mistakes again. You mean too much to me to hurt you like that again."

"You were someone else and so was I. I don't hold any of that against you. I just want to focus on the present and not the past."

"I couldn't agree more." Angel said as he kissed Spike gently on the lips before he said goodnight.

They both didn't know what the future would hold for them, but for now they were going to enjoy the time they had together. They would worry about the future when it got here.


	5. A Family Divide

_**A/N: Okay so I just have to warn you that there is some violence and a lot of sex of all kinds. I'm talking like porn with plot chapter here basically, but it needed to happen. I swear there won't be so much sex in up coming chapters, but it just needed to happen here. **_

_**And before anyone goes off on me about Dawn's behaviour I just want to explain myself here. You'll see more in the next chapter why she is acting this way, but basically I think if you were fifteen and you buried your mother and sister and found out you weren't even alive until like months before and you were just a mystic key to open hell you would have problems. So she is wild and crazy and being stupid with her choices because of those problems and others.**_

_**I also need her to be crazy so it brings out Spike's parental side and puts an even bigger problem between him and Buffy. So it's all building up to something huge. So stick with me here and it will make sense.**_

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Chapter 5

That Sunday they had all spent the day together talking and sharing stories. It was good for Dawn to be able to hear other people's stories and get to be able to learn new things about demons and vampires. It gave Dawn a chance to just be herself and not have to worry about hiding anything. She could just talk with other people that understood how she felt and what she was going through as they had been there, at least the human half of the group did. It was after dinner when Dawn headed upstairs to get her things from the weekend. She wasn't looking forward to going back home to be ignored by everyone. She was looking forward to seeing Jake and Janice again. She couldn't wait to show Janice her new clothes. She knew they couldn't stay here, she knew that she had to go back to Sunnydale, but she really didn't want to leave. She would have stayed here if Spike said they could without any hesitation. She would miss her friends, but she could always make new friends. At least here she didn't feel like she was just some burden to everyone. Here they talked to her like she was a person and they didn't try to hide anything from her. She was almost all packed up when there was a knock at her door.

"Come in."

The door opened and Spike walked into the room.

"You almost ready Niblet?"

"Yup I think I have everything." Dawn said with a smile.

"There's just one thing I need to talk to you before we head back."

"Did I do something wrong?" Dawn asked with worry.

"No you didn't do anything wrong. Here sit for a sec."

Dawn sat down on the bed and Spike sat down across from her on the bed.

"What's going on?" Dawn asked with worry.

"I just wanted to let you know something before we go back. You can let Big Sis know we were here, but there's something I would like to keep between us."

"What's that?"

"I'm sure you might have noticed the added bite mark on my neck and the one on Angel's."

"Ya I've noticed, but I just figured it had something to do with helping you heal. You look better, still bruised, but better."

"It was partly because of that, but Angel and I are together."

"As in dating together?"

"When I was here a month ago the night I left he kissed me. We didn't talk about it until two weeks ago. We decided to take it slow and see what happens."

"And now you are dating? Is that because of you being attacked?"

"Yes and no. As vampires we have nothing but time, only time can get away from you. One year turns into a century before you even know it. No matter what you are a century is still a really long time. Hopefully we work out, but it's still complicated. Are you okay with me dating Angel?"

Spike didn't care who knew about him and Angel, but he didn't want Dawn to not be okay with it. He wanted to make sure she was ok with it.

"You know I used to wish that you and Buffy would get together, but since she's been back she's been nothing but a bitch. I like Angel he's not what Xander or Buffy said about him. He seems to really care about you and you seem happy with him. So of course I'm good with you guys dating. I think it's great and I'm happy for you. I'll keep it away from Buffy, besides it's none of her business. She treats you like shit. You don't deserve that, especially after everything you've done for me and her friends."

"I just don't want her to know and then starts something."

"No I totally get it. Don't worry I won't tell anyone. I'm really happy for you." Dawn said with a smile.

"Thanks Niblet. Your opinion is the only one that matters to me. If you weren't okay with it I would have ended it. I don't want to do something that upsets you."

"Don't be stupid. I'm happy for you Spike. You deserve to be treated right and to be happy. I hope you and Angel work out, he seems to really like you." Dawn said with a smile.

"He seems to. It makes me really happy that you are ok with this. Thanks Niblet."

"Anytime." Dawn said as she leaned in to give Spike a hug. Spike hugged her back before he got up off the bed.

"Alright you finish packing and then we need to head out. I'm sure your Big Sis is back from her workshop or whatever by now."

"She probably hasn't even noticed. Besides Willow said I could go. She can't blame you for it."

"Still it's a school night and you need to be well rested for tomorrow. But I thought if you weren't busy Saturday afternoon you could come by my crypt and I could teach you a few fighting moves." Spike said with a smirk.

"Are you serious right now? You'll teach me how to fight? Like really how to fight?" Dawn asked with hopefulness to her voice.

"Yes really fighting. Self-defense moves first though and then more."

"Awesome!." Dawn yelled.

"Just keep it between us as well. I don't need Big Sis staking me for teaching you how to fight."

"I swear I won't tell. You are so cool." Dawn said with a huge smile.

"Finish packing up and then we'll head out." Spike said with a smile as he headed out of the room.

He walked out into the hallway and saw Angel standing outside of his bedroom. Spike went over to Angel and Angel pulled him into his bedroom. Spike smiled at Angel when he was pushed gently up against the bedroom door. Angel placed a hand on Spike's left cheek and he leaned in and gave him a gentle passionate kiss. Spike happily kissed him back and he let out a soft moan when Angel pushed himself up against Spike. Angel could have easily thrown Spike onto the bed and taken him right then and there, but he knew that they had to leave so he regrettably pulled back from the kiss.

"I'm going to miss you." Angel admitted softly.

"Me too. I hate that I have to leave, but the Niblet has school in the morning and she needs sleep tonight."

"I know. I'm proud of you for looking after her and taking good care of her. It's not easy to do as a human and even harder to do as a vampire. I'm proud of you my Childe."

"Thank-you Sire. I'll let you know when we get back."

"Keep me updated on what goes on with Buffy too."

"I will."

"Are you still going to speak with Tara about Dawn?"

"I am tonight I'll go and talk to her."

"Hopefully she will help."

"She will, she cares about Niblet."

"Good let me know if something happens or if you need help. I'll always be there for you."

"Ditto. I gotta go or I'm afraid neither one of us will want to leave."

"Be safe."

"You too."

Angel leaned in and gave a quick gentle kiss to Spike's lips before he grabbed the door handle and Spike moved out of the way so Angel could open the door. They both headed down the stairs to see Dawn giving Cordelia a hug goodbye. He bag sitting by the door.

"Are you sure we can't keep her?" Cordelia asked Angel and Spike as she held onto Dawn.

"I wish we could, but Dawnie has school in the morning and Buffy is her guardian. She has to go back, but she can always come back and visit." Angel said.

"Ya totally coming back." Dawn said with a smile as she moved out of the hug.

"Fine, but you better text me like every day and keep me in the loop."

"Deal I so can do that." Dawn said with a huge smile.

"Be safe you guys." Gunn said.

"You too Charlie." Spike said.

Gunn smirked at Spike and held his hand out in a fist and Spike gave him a fist bump as a way to say goodbye.

"Alright Niblet let's ride." Spike said as he picked up Dawn's bag and Dawn went over to Angel and gave him a big hug.

"So happy for you." Dawn said with a smile before she waived at everyone and they headed outside.

They both got onto the bike and took off for the highway. It was going to take two hours to get back, but at this hour the traffic shouldn't be too bad.

"So did you have a good time Niblet?"

"An amazing time. Thank-you Spike."

"No problem Niblet."

They made the rest of the drive in silence as they didn't have anything to share with the other since they had seen each other all weekend long. Once they arrived back in Sunnydale Spike headed for the Summers' residence. He pulled up and Dawn got off the bike with her bag. She gave Spike a hug before she spoke.

"Thanks again Spike. I really needed this weekend away and it sure beat an empty house."

"Anytime Niblet. I'll see you in a couple of days, maybe Tuesday we can go for dinner somewhere." Spike suggested thinking that two days would be long enough for him to be able to figure out how to talk to her after what he had learned about her life recently.

"Sounds great I'll come by after school."

"See you then Niblet."

Dawn smiled and she headed inside the house. Spike waited until he saw Dawn going inside before he sent Angel a text letting him know that they got back safe. Spike then headed off for the Magic Shop where he hoped Tara would be so he could speak to her. He then also had to go to work tonight to make up some of the money he lost all weekend. He had enjoyed and needed the weekend away, but he knew it had lost him a great deal of money that he needed to pay off the outstanding debt and the bills every month. It was a lot to handle, but at least with steady money coming in he would be able to buy blood from the butchers at least. He arrived at the Magic Shop and he could sense that everyone minus Buffy was there. He had sensed Buffy back at her house. It was why he didn't stay with Dawn after he dropped her off. He didn't want to see Buffy until he absolutely had to and that was not right now. Spike looked down at his phone first before he got off his bike. He saw the text from Angel and opened it.

'_Good. What are your plans for tonight?'_

'_Just about to talk to Glinda and then do a quick patrol. You?'_

Spike got off his bike and headed inside. He prepared himself for what was to come. He knew that Red was told about him taking Dawn to L.A and he knew she would have told the others. He wasn't looking forward to Xander's comments. They were all so blind that they didn't see how much danger Dawn was in. He walked in and saw that everyone was sitting around the table talking. They stopped when they saw Spike walk in.

"Ah the evil, soulless undead finally decides to show his face." Xander said with anger.

"Xander it's not his fault." Willow said.

"What's he think I've done now?" Spike asked clearly annoyed.

"You took Dawn to L.A. What the hell were you thinking? And what were you thinking letting Dead Boy Junior taking her? We don't let evil monsters around a teenager." Xander said.

"You didn't care when the Slayer was dead and I was the one paying the bills and taking care of her. Now that you went against all laws of physics and the way the bloody Universe works to bring back your Slayer, now you have a problem with me being around her?" Spike said clearly not taking anyone's shit tonight.

"Hey we all helped." Xander said defensively.

"When? When did you help? The only one that did was Glinda. The rest of you spent all your time in your own world completely forgetting that young teenager that had buried her whole family within months of each other. She's still struggling and you lot are all too blind to open your eyes and see it. You got your heads so far shoved up your ass to even notice that she's barely hanging on."

"That's not true. I live there and Tara is there almost every night again. We're there for her." Willow said now getting defensive.

"Really? You're there? So while the Slayer was away this weekend where were you going to be?"

"Tara and I had plans to go to a school trip. We planned it last month." Willow answered.

"So while the Slayer was gone all weekend, you were going to be gone all weekend. And who was going to be there for the Niblet? Because the Whelp works and Demon girl would be at the shop all weekend. So who was going to be there to make sure she eat dinner and wasn't out running the streets all night? But you're there for her right? You've noticed how there's never any food in the house. You've noticed that the Slayer is only home for a few hours in the middle of the night before she's gone again to supposedly work, yet there's no money for food and she's not the one paying the bills, but nothing is wrong right Red?" Spike said in a challenging voice.

"Well it sounds bad when you say it like that." Anya said.

"There's no food there? Haven't you been eating there?" Tara asked Willow.

"No I've been eating on campus or we have dinner at your place or we go out together. I haven't really been around much in the last two months." Willow answered.

"How do you even know any of that? What are you back to stalking her again?" Xander asked with anger.

"No the Niblet told me you moron. Your Slayer is not okay or she came back missing something like I said could have happened. Especially because you screwed up the damn spell by getting interrupted. There's no telling what you could have done to her. The old Slayer would never neglect Niblet like this and you've all just gone along with it. You know what she did this weekend? She went shopping and sight-seeing with Cordelia. Spent the day with another female who paid attention to her and her life. Talked to her and not at her or around her or sugar coated shit down like she was four. She spent the weekend happy, smiling and laughing like I haven't seen her do in a year. She didn't have to hide what she knew and she didn't have to worry about people treating her with kid gloves. But I can't take her down there every weekend so she can feel like she belongs and is wanted and loved. If you lot don't start getting your shit together she is going to start looking for attention in other places and those places could get her arrested or killed."

"Hey you don't get to tell us what is best for Dawn. We care about her. We have souls; that means we can care about her. Unlike you and your creepy obsessions. You just want to get points in with Buffy for your pathetic delusion that you love her." Xander said.

"I don't lover her. The Slayer that I loved died when she jumped off that tower. I don't know what Slayer you idiots raised, but it's not her and deep down you all know that, but want to live in your delusions that everything is perfectly fine. Meanwhile there is a fifteen year old girl on the edge of spiralling out of control if someone doesn't start to be there for her. Get your head out of your ass and be here for her, because Big Sis doesn't give a flying fuck about her and the Niblet knows it."

"We have been forgetting about Dawnie. Spike is right we have been too focused in our own lives that we forgot about Dawnie. I haven't even seen her in a month and before we saw each other every day. We should have noticed that she wasn't eating enough and that she was alone all of the time." Tara said sadly to everyone.

"I've been busy planning my wedding. I assumed Willow was paying attention." Anya said.

"Well Buffy is back now so I figured she was looking after Dawnie again. Dawnie never said anything to me about not having food or being alone all of the time." Willow said.

"How can she say something, when you aren't there? You lot need to get your shit together before she goes looking for comfort and friends in the wrong places and fucks her life up for good." Spike said.

"We'll make sure we're there every night this week and make sure there's food in the house." Tara said on behalf of her and Willow.

"I'm taking her to dinner on Tuesday so have your little date night then if you want." Spike said.

"I think we should stay there tonight too. Buffy was pretty mad when she found out that Dawnie was going to L.A with you. She might want to talk about it with someone." Tara said.

"Ya we should be there you're right. We'll head over there and make sure everything is ok. We can always do some grocery shopping tomorrow." Willow agreed.

"I'm sure everything is fine. Dead Boy Junior is just lying to get Buffy's attention. She wouldn't let Dawn go without food or be alone all weekend." Xander said.

"Whatever, keep your head up your ass I don't bloody well care. I care about the Niblet and she shouldn't have to be alone all day and night." Spike said before he turned to leave.

"We'll keep an eye on her." Tara said to Spike as he turned and headed for the door.

"Appreciate it Luv." Spike said as he headed out to his bike.

Spike got onto his bike and he pulled out his phone to see Angel's text.

'_Let me know how it goes.'_

'_The Whelp wants to believe I'm making it all up because I want Buffy to pay attention to me due to my delusional love for her. Glinda and Red said they would pay closer attention to the Niblet and make sure there is food in the house. They are going to be there all week and head home now. Buffy apparently wasn't happy that Niblet went to L.A. with me.'_

Spike started his bike and took off for his crypt. He was going to drop off his bike and bag before he headed to the club to work. He had to make up some money for missing all weekend. He might have to work a dayshift if he didn't have enough by the end of the month. Spike was hoping he wouldn't have to though. He took off for his crypt so he could stash his bike before he would head over to the club.

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Dawn walked into the house and once the door was closed Buffy was on her.

"Where the hell have you been all weekend?" Buffy asked with anger.

"I told Willow where I was going and hello to you too. So glad you missed me." Dawn said sarcastically.

"I know what you told Willow, but that was a lie, because there is no way you would go to L.A. with Spike of all people to visit Angel. They hate each other and I know you wouldn't be so stupid to go anywhere with a soulless evil thing that is Spike."

"He's not evil and he's not a thing. He actually cares about me, unlike you. Where were you this weekend, because I don't believe that the Doublemeat Palace had some work conference that everyone had to go to. Do you even work there anymore? I don't think you do. I mean you're gone all the time and yet we have no food and there's no money, yet you work all these hard hours right? You're a liar and Spike is a lot better than you. Him and Angel got along all weekend just great."

"You are forbidden to go anywhere near Spike. If I find out you have again then I'll go over there and stake him myself I mean it!" Buffy yelled.

"That's not fair he can't hurt anyone. He can't even defend himself against a human he's no danger so what is the big deal if I hang out with him? He's more of a parent than you have ever been!" Dawn yelled back.

"I mean it Dawn you are not allowed to be around him ever again. If I find out you have been then I will stake him. I am not going to let him poison your mind and be a bad influence on you. Stay the hell away from him or I'll kill him for good and that will be on you." Buffy said with seething anger.

"I hate you!" Dawn yelled at Buffy before she stomped up the stairs.

"You're grounded for a month for the shit you just pulled this weekend. I mean it you go to school and that is it!" Buffy yelled at Dawn as she stomped up the stairs.

Dawn slammed her door shut and she felt her whole body vibrating with anger. She couldn't believe how quick her sister could ruin her perfectly happy mood. She wished she could be back in L.A right now with Spike and everyone else. She was happy there. Now she was stuck back here dealing with her sister and everyone else ignoring her. Dawn was pissed and she wasn't going to be staying here tonight. She didn't care what her sister said. Dawn made quick work at putting her new clothes away so they wouldn't get damaged before she changed out of her clothes. She grabbed a pair of black leather pants that she had stolen a week ago and put on a black sheer top with no bra or panties on. She knew she looked slutty, but she loved the attention she got wearing it from Jake and every other guy she walked by. They made her feel wanted and sexy so she didn't care that you could practically see right through her sheer top. She knew Jack would love it. She put on a pair of thigh high black stiletto boots and she grabbed her purse and a black leather jacket before she climbed out her window and down to the grass. She then took off for Jake's place.

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Spike arrived at the club and went into the office. He walked right in and his boss spoke once he saw that it was him.

"And here I was thinking you weren't going to show your face around here anymore."

"Was out of town. Do you got a room for me for not?"

"Room eight is free all night."

Spike didn't say anything he just walked out and headed into room eight for the night. Once inside Spike pulled out his cell phone and saw a text from Angel.

'_Xander always was an idiot. Doesn't Willow pay rent?_

'_Nope she doesn't. They're idiots and Niblet is the one that is going to be paying for it in the end. I don't want her to be getting any worse than she already is. If they don't smarten up then she just might.'_

Spike removed his clothing and then waited for when the first customer would be in for the night. What Spike didn't know was that on his way to the club he was being followed. The man knew what this place was from back when he lived in Sunnydale. He knew just what type of club it was so he was very interested in why Spike would go inside it. He went in and decided to see what was going on. He walked in and a big demon came up to him.

"What do you want?" The demon growled.

"A vampire just came in here. I want him." The man answered.

"For how long?" The demon growled.

"An hour."

"What do you want to do with him?"

"Anything goes, but I won't dust him."

"It'll cost you three hundred."

"Is he free now?"

"He is."

"Could someone go in here and chain him up on all fours, ass in the air and gagged before I go in there? I'll pay another hundred."

"Deal, payment now." The demon said as he held out a claw hand.

The man placed he money into the hand and the demon nodded his head towards two other large demons and the three of them left and went down the hallway and in another room. Spike looked up once he heard he door and he saw three of the guards.

"What do you lot want?" Spike asked.

"Next customer wants you a certain way. Either cooperate or we force you to do it." The demon answered.

"And what would that way be?" Spike asked.

"Chained and gaged on all fours"

"Fuck that." Spike said with anger.

"Have it your way." The demon said before he here of them were on Spike.

In the size of the room Spike barely had any room to move with the three large demons. Despite his efforts it didn't take long before they had him on the bed being chained up and gagged. By the time they were done he had a metal ball gag strapped around his mouth. His wrists were both chained up to the metal headboard and his thighs and ankles were chained up spread wide with a chain connecting around his hips to the ceiling making it so his ass was all the way up in the air and his face was into the pillow with his legs spread as wide as possible. Spike fought against the chains, but they were demon special chains so they wouldn't break. The demons left and a few minutes later the door opened again. Spike could smell that the man was human and Spike found that it made it even worse. What made it unbearable was the sound of the man's voice.

"Well, well, well things have certainly taken an interesting turn around here eh Spike?" Riley said with a chuckle in his voice as he looked at Spike.

Spike growled at Riley as he couldn't even talk with the stupid ball gag in his mouth. Riley just laughed at him as he stood in front of him with a smirk.

"Chaining you up like this and that gag was worth the extra hundred. Now I don't have to hear the sound of your voice. Because of you my life was ruined. You took Buffy away from me, I've been in a rainforest for the past year and it's all your fault. I'm going to enjoy making you pay for everything you have screwed up in my life. I think we are really going to enjoy our time together Spike or I should say whore." Riley said with an evil smirk.

Spike tried to pull at the chains again, but they held still. Riley laughed as he went over to the shelving unit and saw all of the whips, knives, lighters, chains, holy water and crosses. There was a lot of different things he could do to Spike to make him pay for what he did to his life. Riley decided to grab one of the smaller whips. It would do damage to Spike with enough force behind it. He decided to do a test and he turned and whipped Spike right across the face. Spike grunted as the whip hit him right along the right side of his face making it cut and bleed. Riley smirked as he spoke.

"We might have to make this a weekly appointment whore." Riley said as he chuckled and moved to Spike's back.

He brought the whip down across Spike's back and Spike bit the inside of his mouth to keep from making any noise. Riley only hit him harder and harder each time. After twenty strikes Riley went and put the whip back where it was. He then picked up a bottle of holy water and went back over to Spike's back.

"Blood looks good on you whore. Are you enjoying yourself? I know I am. You escaping the Initiative is what started my downfall. You got Buffy involved and then she started to poke around and wanted to protect the poor helpless vampire who couldn't defend himself against humans. You're pathetic." Riley said as he started to pour some holy water on Spike's back. Spike couldn't help the scream of pain come from his throat as the holy water hit the cuts on his back. "You know I didn't even come back to Sunnydale for his, I heard a rumor that the Slayer was killed and then she was shockingly back. According to my sources she's different and not in a good way. Thought I would come here and see what was going on with her. The local demons all have been saying how she's different angrier and violent. I was going to go and see her when I saw you walking into this place. I knew what this place was from the Initiative and I couldn't help my curiosity. I have to say I'm shocked that you are nothing more than a whore, but it suits you." Riley said as he continued to pour the whole bottle of holy water all over Spike's back. Spike continued to scream as the holy water burnt his damaged skin.

Once the bottle was empty Riley returned it to the shelf and then picked up the thick wooden cross. He gave Spike an evil smile as he went around behind Spike once again.

"I'm going to enjoy this a lot more than you are." Riley said as he took the long end of the cross and shoved it inside Spike's hole in one strong thrust.

Spike screamed at the pain from the initial insertion. After a moment the burning started and he found himself in a whole new world of pain. Spike also knew that once a room was given to someone for the night you were stuck here. The door locked from the inside and it wasn't opened until a client needed out or the end of the night came. Riley began to fuck Spike with the cross and he felt himself getting harder and harder as he continued to scream. After a good ten minutes Riley pulled the cross out and he shoved his hard dick inside Spike's burnt and bleeding hole. Spike screamed into the gag at the new pain and he did everything he could to keep the walls up around his mind so Angel wouldn't know anything had been happening. He didn't want Angel to know about any of this. He just got him back in his life and if he knew about this Spike knew Angel would leave being completely disgusted by him. That wasn't something that Spike was going to be able to handle. He felt for the first time in his existence that someone had actually cared about him. He wasn't some substitute or being used. Angel had genuinely cared about him and Spike couldn't handle losing him now. He would then be all alone to deal with this hell and he couldn't handle that. Angel wouldn't want him anymore he would see what a disgrace to the family name Spike had become and remove the family claim once again. Spike couldn't ever let Angel know.

Spike did his best to ignore what Riley was doing and the horrible words he was constantly saying to him. Spike just closed his eyes and waited for when the hour would be over. Finally Riley came and he pulled out. There was a knock on the door followed by a gruff demon voice.

"You got one minute."

Riley got his pants zipped back up as he spoke.

"Well whore it looks like our time is up tonight. I'll have to come back next week for another round. That was just too much fun to pass up again. I'm off to go see Buffy now you enjoy your night whore." Riley said with a smirk as he went over to the door. "Let me out."

The door opened and Riley walked out. The demon went back in and unchained Spike without saying anything before he headed back out. Spike laid on his left side and tried to get the pain under control. He knew he wouldn't have long before the next customer would be in here wanting something else from him. He had eight more hours to go before five in the morning when he could go to his crypt and drink the blood that Angel had given him. He wouldn't get any here to help him heal. So he had no choice, but to wait for when he got home to drink some blood.

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Buffy was in the kitchen when Willow and Tara had walked into the house.

"Hey Buffy you here?" Willow called out.

"In the kitchen." Buffy called back.

Willow and Tara headed into the kitchen to see Buffy clearly angry sitting down on a stool at the island.

"What's wrong?" Willow asked as she sat down next to her best friend.

"Just Dawn and I had a fight." Buffy said.

"About this weekend?" Willow asked feeling bad that she had let Dawn go this weekend with Spike.

"Yes and it's not your fault. You didn't know how I would feel about it, but Dawn did. She knew I didn't want her alone with Spike or around Spike much at all. He's getting creepy with her."

"Creepy how?" Tara asked as she leaned against the counter facing Willow and Buffy.

"He's acting like he's her father or something. It's just creepy. I tell her to do something and she won't do it because Spike says she doesn't have to, or she's going to dinner with Spike or wanting to hang out with him. I mean if he was anything but some undead soulless thing I wouldn't have that much of a problem with it, but there are other ways you can hurt someone without hitting them you know?" Buffy said looking for some support.

"Ya I mean I get that. Angel fell in love with you when you were just sixteen. I mean that's creepy when you think about it." Willow said agreeing with Buffy.

"Exactly, but at least he had a soul, he knew the difference between right and wrong. Spike doesn't have that he just has a muzzle. He could still hurt Dawn and she doesn't see that because she's young and naïve. I'm trying to protect her. I mean if she wanted to go to L.A. to visit or see Angel or whatever she could have talked to me about it and I would have taken her. Angel would have kept her safe from Spike this weekend I know, but still she was alone with him on that bike, who knows if he had been drinking before he drove her. And she didn't even ask me she just assumed I would be okay with it when she knew I wouldn't be. She could have texted me, but she went behind my back to go."

"She should have texted you to ask you, but maybe she just didn't want to be home alone this weekend. Willow and I were gone away on a school trip we didn't even realise that she would be alone all weekend." Tara said.

"She could have stayed at Janice's or Xander's place if I knew you guys weren't going to be here. I wasn't just going to leave her home alone all weekend. She even came home with a bag full of new clothes that she didn't get the money from me so Spike must have bought them for her. See creepy." Buffy said.

"Or Angel did or Cordelia for that matter you know how she loves to shop. Did you ask her about it?" Willow asked.

"No she just came in here with an attitude acting like she did nothing wrong. I told her she wasn't supposed to be going around Spike and she yelled at me said I hate you and stormed off to her room. I told her she was grounded for a month and I mean it. I'm not putting up with her acting this way and I'm not going to let her around Spike alone."

"I think she is just having a hard time adjusting back into things. When you were gone she was with Spike a lot and she has gotten used to that so things are a little hard on her right now." Tara said in Spike and Dawn's defense.

"Ok, but I'm alive now and when I was alive before I died I didn't let her hang out with Spike alone unless I had no other choice for her safety. He knew though that I would stake him in a second if he did anything to her. Now he's crossing the line and who's to say that he won't put his make believe love he has towards me and reflect it onto Dawn thinking he can get with her. She's young, naïve and she's had a crush on since she first saw him. Angel had a soul when he fell in love with me, there's nothing stopping Spike." Buffy said.

"Spike doesn't look at Dawn like that. It's more of a brother/sister thing." Tara said gently.

"Come on, how many times have you seen Spike petting Dawn, giving her a hug, flirting with her, buying her dinner or clothes or something else? He crosses the line often and you know it." Buffy said as she looked at Willow.

"Ok there may be a few times where it crosses a line slightly, but I think it's his personality." Willow said slightly uncomfortable being stuck between her girlfriend and her best friend.

"She's my sister, mom trusted me with her and I'm not going to let her be influenced or manipulated by Spike and his lack of a soul and morals. She's my sister and I get to say who she hangs out with and she is not allowed to be around Spike it's that simple. I have to patrol just leave her in her room to throw a tantrum like a little kid. I'll talk to her again in the morning." Buffy said as she got up from the stool and headed out the back.

"Well that went well." Willow said sarcastically.

"I understand she is upset about not knowing Dawnie was going to L.A and Spike probably shouldn't have taken her there, but he didn't mean any harm by it. Spike doesn't look at Dawn as anything more than a sister. He would never put her in harm's way or cross the line with her." Tara said in Spike's defense.

"I know, but Buffy has a point she is Dawnie's guardian and she does have a say in who she sees. She shouldn't be in the graveyard alone anyways and being around Spike could give her some bad influence with his criminal ways." Willow said.

"Spike would never do anything to put Dawnie at risk no matter what. He's not that much of a criminal now a days anyways. He's been completely good since before Buffy died. He changed his ways because of the chip, but he completely changed his ways with taking care of Dawnie. Even his aura has changed. He's not the same vampire he was when you first met him. He's different now and we shouldn't be treating him like he's still evil when he isn't." Tara said.

"I do treat him nicely. Xander just can't stand vampires no matter who you are, it's just who he is. Buffy is just tired and overworked. I'm sure in a couple of days she will have calmed down and everything will be fine again you'll see."

"I hope so, because it's not fair to Dawnie not being able to see Spike anymore. She really needs him so I hope Buffy calms down and changes her mind about Spike."

"I'm sure she will." Willow let out a yawn before she continued. "Golly I'm tired from this weekend. What do you say we go upstairs and get some sleep?" Willow suggested.

"Sounds good." Tara agreed as she felt tired herself.

They both made sure to lock up and turned off the lights except for the one in the kitchen where Buffy would be coming in from patrolling later. They both headed upstairs and Tara spoke at the top of the stairs.

"You go in I'm just gonna make sure Dawnie is okay."

"I can come with you." Willow offered.

"No I don't want her feeling like everyone is ganging up on her. I'm just going to check on her and then come to bed. I won't get into anything tonight with her unless she starts."

"Ok I'll get the bed warm for you." Willow said with a smile.

Tara smiled back and Willow headed to her bedroom as Tara headed in the other direction towards Dawn's bedroom.

"Dawnie, sweetie can I come in?" Tara asked as she lightly knocked on the door.

She didn't get a response so she decided to open the door slightly in case Dawn had fallen asleep. She was shocked to see that the room was empty and the window was left open. Dawn clearly had climbed through the window and snuck out after the fight with Buffy. Tara went over to the window and closed it almost all of the way. She left it open just enough for Dawn to open it back up from the outside in case she came back later on tonight or early in the morning. Tara shook her head at the fact that now Dawn was gone, probably for the night and probably over at Spike's right now ranting on about Buffy the one place Buffy doesn't want Dawn to be. The problem was Tara didn't see the big deal in Dawn being around Spike when they didn't care when he was taking care of her for the almost five months that Buffy was gone for. Tara headed back into Willow's bedroom and closed the door behind her.

"That was quick. Is she ignoring you?" Willow asked as she got into bed.

"No she was asleep. I just made sure she was okay and then I left. I can talk to her tomorrow after school." Tara lied as she got changed for bed.

She knew she shouldn't have lied to Willow about this, but she didn't want Willow going to tell Buffy. Tara knew that Spike wouldn't hurt Dawn and he seemed to be helping her coping with everything that had happened. Tara didn't want to give Buffy a reason to hurt Spike. So she lied and she would just talk to Dawn tomorrow about everything that had been going on with her. Tara crawled into bed with Willow and closed her eyes letting herself relax.

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Dawn arrived at Jake's place and she noticed that he had a few cars in the driveway which meant people were over. She didn't care she just needed out of that house and away from Buffy. She walked up to the door and knocked. A few moments later Jake opened the door. When he saw what Dawn was wearing he smirked at her.

"Damn baby, I could take you right here on the porch looking like that."

"Come on out and be my guest." Dawn said with a flirty smirk as she unzipped her jacket showing Jake everything she had and didn't have on.

"Oh fuck I'm going to screw your brains out here tonight, but I can't right now. Come on in I got something you might like."

Dawn walked into the house and saw five other guys were in the living room. They were doing lines and Dawn smiled at them as they looked her over. They all smiled at her as they saw what she was wearing and the cold breeze had made her nipples hard.

"Want a line baby?" Jake asked.

"Do you even have to ask?" Dawn said back with a smile.

"Well then step on up sexy." The one guy said as he got a line ready for Dawn.

Dawn went over and bent down making sure her ass was sticking out as she took the line in one go.

"What are we doing tonight boys?" Dawn asked as she stood back up.

"Tell me baby, you ever steal anything?" Jake asked.

"Ya I steal clothes and money all the time, even jewelry from small stores. Why we stealing something baby?" Dawn asked with a smile as the cocaine was hitting her system now.

"If you think you can handle it. I got something you could do to help us out and that outfit would be perfect for it." Jake said.

"Oh is that right. What's the job?" Dawn asked.

"We've been looking to set this up for a few weeks now. A small jewellery store with only night security guard standing out front of the store as their security. There's no cameras or alarms. All we need to do is distract the security guard and pick the locks then we're in. They leave a key to the cases right next to the register. We're talking a quarter mill take and we split it by seniority. You distract the security guard and for your first time in I'll give you five grand of the sell." Jake said.

"Just like that? How long before you get the cash for it?" Dawn asked clearly now very interested.

"Tonight, we got a buyer waiting for us. We've dealt with him before so he's legit. You in baby?"

"How do I distract him?" Dawn asked.

"I'm sure you can think of something to catch his attention and hold it for fifteen minutes." One of the guys said with a smirk.

"Alright when?" Dawn asked.

"We were just about to leave. We were gonna call up a different girl, but if you think you can handle it then it's all yours baby." Jake said.

"I can handle it easily." Dawn said back with a confident smile.

"Then let's get going." Jake said.

Everyone grabbed their coats and they grabbed their masks and gloves before they all headed out. Dawn drove with Jake in his car with the other guys in the second car.

"I expect a really good fuck after this. All of this excitement is making me really wet baby." Dawn said playfully.

"I'll fuck your brains out baby all night long. Not that I'm not happy about you just showing up, but why did you. It's not like you to get out on a school night."

"My sister is being a bitch so I snuck out. She grounded me for a month like I'm gonna listen to her." Dawn said with a laugh.

"So skip school tomorrow and spend the day with me in bed. I'll make you forget all about it baby."

"You know what that sounds perfect to me on one condition."

"Name it."

"No clothing allowed all day."

"I'll do that deal anytime baby. You sure you can handle this tonight?"

"I'll be fine."

"How are you going to distract him?"

"I don't know I can talk to him just away from the store slightly."

"Might not work. You might have to get sexual with him. The girl we would have called would have made out with him and let him feel her up. Maybe you're not that dedicated to the family though, you are still new to it after all."

"I'll do whatever it takes to get this job done and to prove to you and everyone that I am dedicated to this family. I don't have a family, I got a bitch of a sister that I hate and that's it. I'm not going anywhere or failing. I'll get it done no matter what."

"That's my girl. Just think in a few hours you will be five grand richer and we are going to party all night long. I'll get some blow for us and some X so we can fuck like rabbits all night and all day tomorrow if we want."

"Can't wait. Five grand, fuck the things I can do with five grand. I could actually buy food instead of waiting around for my sister to figure out we have no food in the house. I'm so sick of her shit."

"You shouldn't be putting up with that shit baby. Don't worry I'll take good care of you."

"You have so far. How much farther?"

"About five minutes."

"This is going to be such a fucking thrill." Dawn said with a smile.

"You have no idea baby."

A few minutes later they were parking their cars a block away from the store. Dawn could see the security guard standing out front of the store. She removed her jacket before winking at Jake and getting out of the car. He got out with the guys in the car behind them and headed down a side alley to get to the back of the store. Dawn pulled out her phone and as she got closer to the security guard she started acting like she was a little lost. She noticed that the guard was roughly forty and average looking. He wasn't attractive, but he wasn't ugly either just average and boring looking.

"Um excuse me?" Dawn asked with a sultry voice as she approached the security guard. Dawn could tell he was turned on the second he looked at her. He looked her up and down and his mouth opened slightly at the sight of her hard nipple through her sheer top, leaving nothing to the imagination. Dawn gave a flirty smile to the guard.

"Yes Ma'am?" The security guard said as he found his voice.

"I'm wondering if you could help me?"

"I'd love to help you. What can I help you with?" The guard asked with a stupid smile on his face.

"Oh my lucky night. A hot man in a uniform looking to help me. It's like a fantasy of mine is coming true."

"And what might that fantasy be?" The Guard asked as he turned to fully face Dawn.

"You know the damsel in distress only with no violence. Here I am just visiting this city and I'm lost. Then my prayers are answered with you here. A hot man in a uniform. I bet you know how to show a girl a good time. If you wouldn't mind giving me directions I wouldn't mind showing my gratitude." Dawn said as she looked down at the man's crotch as she licked her lips slowly in a sexy way.

"And how would you do that?" The guard asked as he moved closer to Dawn and away from the store front.

"I'll let you in on a secret." Dawn said as she moved to whisper into the guard's ear. "I look even sexier on my knees looking back up." Dawn said before she moved back slightly.

"That sounds like a sight I need to see."

"So we have a deal then you tell me where to go for the Bronze and I'll show you just how mouths can be used for something so much better than talking."

"You go six blocks to the right and then up two and you'll see it."

"My hero now let me show you something you will never forget." Dawn said as she grabbed lightly onto the tie and pulled the guard over to a side alley.

She pushed him up against the wall and she just smiled.

"Here?" He asked slightly shocked.

"What's wrong are you shy?" Dawn asked as she undid the guard's pants.

"Not at all. I've been hard since I laid my eyes on you."

"Then why don't I show you just what I can do with my mouth." Dawn said as she bent down and started to lick the length of the man's shaft.

The guard moaned at the contact and he watched as Dawn kept her eyes on him as she licked his hard dick before she put it in her mouth. She slowly worked her way down before she took him all, still looking at him. The guard moaned and grabbed a handful of Dawn's hair as he took control of her head. Dawn moaned as she let the man take control.

"You like that eh?" The guard asked with a husky voice.

Dawn just moaned and she moved her right hand down to rub the outside of her crotch. The man let out a loud moan at the sight. Dawn knew she needed to make this last so she pulled her head off as she kept rubbing herself through her pants she spoke.

"You like my mouth hot stuff." Dawn asked with a smirk as she licked his leaking tip.

"Fuck you are so hot. Lift your shirt up let me see those tits of yours in the flesh."

Dawn lifted her shirt up and she moaned as she touched her breasts with her free hand.

"You like that baby?"

"Oh fuck ya."

"You know you wanna touch them. Go ahead hot stuff."

The guard moved his hands and grabbed each breast and gave a little squeeze as he moaned.

"Oh fuck the things I want to do to you."

"Not so shy anymore eh big boy." Dawn said with a smirk.

"Shut up and get your mouth back around my cock." The guard said as he moved Dawn's head back down to his cock.

Dawn took him into her mouth and he thrusted his hips to fuck her mouth. He gave a loud moan as he cam deep into Dawn's mouth. Dawn moaned as she swallowed it, but she was also worried, because it hadn't been long enough yet. Dawn pulled her head back and smiled up at the guard.

"You taste so fucking good." Dawn said as she licked her lips.

"I bet you taste really sweet. You must be all wet from rubbing yourself."

"I'm soaked down here plus I have no panties on so the leather is rubbing right against my clit it feels so good." Dawn said as she moaned as she continued to rub herself.

"I want to taste you unless you're shy." The guard said with a smirk.

Dawn stood up and she undid her pants and pulled the down so he could see her clean shaven crotch. She then took two of her fingers and inserted them into herself and moaned as she moved them around before she brought them out and licked them keeping her eyes on the guard.

"Oh fuck that is hot." The guard moaned.

"You want a taste big boy?"

"Oh fuck ya."

Dawn moved her fingers back inside of her for a moment again before she took them out and brought them up to the guard's mouth. He licked them before he put them in his mouth and sucked on them. He moaned at her taste and Dawn moaned at the action. She was saved by a bang from just a few feet away. The guard was snapped out of it and male voices could be heard coming closer. He pulled up his pants and Dawn did the same as she lowered her top. She knew who the guys were, but she couldn't let he guard know that. The guys looked at them in the alley before they continued on. Once they were gone Dawn gave a flirty smile to the guard as she backed up out of the alley.

"Hopefully I'll see you later big boy we have some unfinished business to get to."

"Come find me when you are done at the Bronze I'll be here all night."

Dawn gave a flirty smile as she turned and headed back up the street. She got into the car to see Jake smiling like a fool at her. He already had the car running and he pulled out and headed off for the buyer's direction while the other guys went back to the house.

"I'm impressed. You sucked his dick right there in the alley and tasted yourself. So fucking hot baby."

"How do you know that?"

"One of the guys was the lookout he saw the whole thing. We had to make sure no surprises came up. He told us what happened. He was very impressed and the guys all know you are legit now too. You earned their respect and trust baby. You should be thrilled about that."

"Hell ya I am. So where is this buyer?"

"We're going to meet him at his house in the next city over. They guys are going back to my place and we will meet them back there to give them their cut and party. Now I want you to pay attention when we do this buy, because you are my girl and there might be times where you have to be working the deal if I'm busy. Do you know how to drive?"

"No my sister doesn't drive so."

"I'll teach you and we'll get you a car. We'll need to get you a fake ID that says your nineteen so you can drive alone without any problems from cops or anything."

"Really? You would do that for me?" Dawn asked surprised that Jake would do all of that for her.

"You're my girl right?"

"Ya"

"You're loyal to the family and me right?"

"You know I am."

"Then that's why I would do this for you. You're my girl, my only girl I take care of my girl. And the family will take care of you, that's how it works baby."

"How long before we get to the buyer's house?"

"About thirty minutes."

"So plenty of time." Dawn said with a flirty smirk.

She removed her seatbelt and went to undo Jake's pants. And started to stroke him before she licked his hardening dick before she put him into her mouth.

"Oh baby the things you do to me."

Dawn moaned around his dick and she felt his hand running into her hair. Dawn worked his dick and fifteen minutes later he was cumming down her throat with a loud moan. Dawn licked him clean before she pulled her head off with a smile as she sat back.

"You are a sex machine baby. I love it."

"Well I had to get a bad taste out of my mouth." Dawn said with a giggle.

"You can suck my dick any time baby. Now when we get there put your jacket on. We need the buyer to see that you are serious and mean business. He won't if all he can see are your lovely tits. Let me do the talking and just pay attention."

"Got it."

They drove the rest of the way and when they arrived at the two story house they got out of the car. Dawn put her jacket back on and made sure she did it up while Jake grabbed the duffle bag full of jewellery. They walked inside the house and Dawn made sure she stayed by Jake looking confident, but she let Jake have total control. Jake smiled as he spoke to the buyer.

"Hey man." Jake said as he slapped the buyer's hand as a way of a hand shake.

"Hey and you brought along a very beautiful piece with you." The buyer said as he looked at Dawn.

"Mike, this is my girl Dawn she helped us out tonight. It's her first time and she made us all very proud." Jake said.

"That's one hell of a complement coming from you. You must be keeping her then. I'm Mike." Mike said as he held his hand out to shake Dawn's.

"Dawn, it's a pleasure to meet you." Dawn said as she shook the man's hand.

"She has manners I like that. I'm sure you are in a hurry to get back home, so show me what you got." Mike said.

Jake handed the duffle bag over to Mike and he started to take out the pieces and look at them. After twenty minutes he spoke.

"These are all very good. I can get rid of them easily. All high end jewellery. Nice work Jake." Mike said as he got up and went over to a small black duffle bag that he had on his table. "This is for you, paid in full a quarter mill, plus I threw in some partying gifts for you." Mike said as he handed the bag over to Jake.

"Appreciate it."

"There's a party Saturday night I'm throwing. Come down and bring Dawn with you, if she can handle my wild parties." Mike said with a smile.

"She can handle it. The first night I met her she played strip poker with us. She can handle your parties." Jake said with a confident smile.

"Good I look forward to seeing you both there then. Have a good night." Mike said.

"You too man and thanks."

Jake and Dawn headed out of the house and back to the car. Jake unzipped the duffle bag and sure enough it was filled with cash and a pound of cocaine and a small baggie filled with ecstasy.

"Wow that is a lot of cash." Dawn said with a huge smile.

Jake started to count out five grand and then handed it over to Dawn with a smile on his face.

"You're cut baby."

Dawn took the cash and she just smiled and held onto it.

"Holy fuck. This is awesome and never going to get old." Dawn said as she grabbed her purse and put the money into it.

"Here take one. By the time we get back that will be fully in your system and then the real party starts." Jake said as he gave Dawn one of the pills. Dawn easily took it and swallowed it down. Jake then reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a two inch choker covered in small diamonds. "This is my special gift to you baby. A three hundred diamond choker necklace." Jake said as he handed it to Dawn.

Dawn took it and was shocked at how beautiful it was. It could have easily been sold for ten grand and it was hers. Jake's gift to her.

"Here turn around I'll put it on you." Jake said as he took the necklace back.

Dawn removed her jacket and turned around so Jake could put it on her. With it on she turned back to face Jake.

"It's beautiful on you."

"Jake, this is amazing no one has ever given me anything and this is so beautiful."

"Only the best for my girl."

"And as your girl I going to be giving you one hell of a thank-you for this. Just you wait until we get back to the house."

"Oh really eh? Does that mean I get to fuck you on the front porch?" Jake asked with a smirk.

"You won't know until you get home so drive fast."

Jake leaned in and kissed Dawn before he pulled back and headed back onto the road for Sunnydale. They arrived back at the house just twenty minutes later with how fast Jake drove. Once there they got out of the car and headed inside to see the five guys all still there.

"We got money and drugs boys." Jake said as he held up the bag.

The guys all clapped and cheered as Jake handed the bag off to one of the guys.

"Matt, divide up the money like it should be and someone get this beautiful girl a drink." Jake said.

"And someone better get me a line because I feel like celebrating." Dawn said with a smile.

"Alright." Jake said with a smile.

"I'll get the drinks. What do you like sweet thing?" Robert asked.

"Vodka soda please."

"You got it."

"And I got the line, you want a big one?" Russ asked.

"I always want a big one." Dawn said with a flirty smile.

"That's my girl." Jake said as he kissed Dawn again.

Dawn removed her jacket and bent down to take the line once it was ready and took the drink once Robert came back.

"Now I'm starting to feel real good." Dawn said with a smile.

"Damn I don't suppose you're willing to share her Jake." Russ asked as he sat back on the couch.

"Only if the lady wants." Jake said as he wrapped his arms around Dawn from behind.

"Might entertain the idea later." Dawn said with a smirk.

Jake pulled out another pill from his pocket and spoke.

"Open your mouth baby."

Dawn did as she was told and Jake put the pill in her mouth. Dawn swallowed it before taking the rest of her drink. They spent the next hour just hanging out doing line and drinking. Three of the guys headed out to get home to their girls and Dawn stood up with a smile.

"I'll be right back."

Dawn headed up into Jake's bedroom and quickly got changed out of her clothes. She put her boots back on before she smiled at herself in the mirror. She was extremely high and with the number of Ecstasy pills she had she was very horny and not thinking straight at all, but she didn't care. She was going to do whatever she wanted and she loved the attention she was getting from everyone. So without another thought she left the bedroom in nothing more than her thigh high boots and the diamond choker and went into the living room. All of the guys smiled as they saw her.

"I'm gonna go get some fresh air, you coming baby?" Dawn asked with a smirk as she turned and headed for the front door.

"You lucky son of a bitch." Russ groaned.

Jake got up and headed out the front door to see Dawn leaning against the railing right in front of the window where Russ and Robert were looking out of. Jake went over to Dawn and she didn't even waste a second before she was undoing his pants.

"Fuck me baby. I'm so wet." Dawn moaned.

"Show me how wet you are baby." Jake said as he moved around behind Dawn and picked up her right leg by her thigh. Spreading her legs as she stood there. "Show them how wet you are." Jake whispered into Dawn's ear.

Dawn moaned and she locked eyes with Russ and Robert and she started to rub her clit and insert her finger.

"You look so sexy right now baby, fuck I could fall in love with you." Jake said as he nipped at her neck.

"Mm baby fuck me."

"You want me to fuck you right here, where someone could walk by and see you. See you getting my big cock up your tight pussy."

"Fuck baby ya, fuck me hard right here."

"Put your hands on the window and spread these legs for me baby. Let them watch as I fuck you."

Dawn did as she was told and she moaned loudly when Jake entered her. Dawn saw Russ and Robert had pulled their hard ons out and were stroking themselves at the sight of her.

"You're making them so hard baby. Imagine how good it would feel to be sucking one of their cocks while I fuck you and one licks your clit." Jake said into Dawn's ear.

Dawn moaned. "Oh fuck that would feel so good."

"Almost as good as it would feel to have me fuck your tight ass while you suck a dick and let the other fuck your wet pussy at the same time. Oh the sounds you would make baby."

"Oh fuck ya, harder baby. I want to feel you deeper in me."

Jake shoved even deeper into Dawn and he took her right hand and brought it down to her clit.

"Make yourself cum baby. I'm close cum with me."

Dawn started to rub her clit and after a few more minutes both were cumming with a loud moan. Dawn saw that both Russ and Robert had came as well and they were wiping their hands off. Dawn turned around and kissed Jake hard before she pulled back and headed inside.

"Where you going baby I didn't say I was done with you." Jake said.

Dawn turned around as she spoke.

"Hey you were the one talking about fucking my ass while they fuck my pussy and mouth. Now I want it unless that was all just talk."

"Oh fuck I love you. Such a dirty girl, my sweet dirty girl." Jake said as he kissed Dawn and pushed her back inside.

They went into the living room and Dawn turned around as she spoke.

"So Jake gets to fuck my ass, which one of you gets to fuck my pussy and mouth?" Dawn said with a smirk.

"You need to keep this one Jake." Russ said.

"And I get your pussy I've been here longer." Robert said as he started to remove his clothing.

Jake and Russ did the same and once they were all naked the fun started.

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Buffy was walking through the graveyard looking for vampires to fight. She was also going to be stopping by Spike's crypt and speaking with him about what he had been doing with Dawn. She wasn't going to let Spike get away with this. She decided to head over there right now and deal with it.

"Buffy."

Buffy stopped and she turned around and was surprised to see Riley standing there.

"Riley? What are you doing back?" Buffy asked with a smile.

"A smile and not a punch in the face. I'm assuming that means you aren't still mad at me." Riley said with a small smile.

"I have other things to be mad at recently."

"I heard. You died then came back to life. How did that happen?"

"I died to save the world and then my friends decided to pull me out of heaven to keep killing. Good times to be had." Buffy said sarcastically.

"What they all just did it? Did they know you were in heaven?" Riley asked appalled that her friends would do that to her.

"They thought I was in Hell, but still they used magic and brought me back. Well Willow did with Tara, Anya and Xander. Giles ran away to England and Dawn and Spike didn't know. Still here I am living the life of a vampire Slayer instead of being in peace in Heaven." Buffy said annoyed as she sat down on a tombstone.

"That's got to be hard on you. Especially after your mom died. To come back from everything that happened and now raising a teenager. Buffy that can't be easy. How are you doing with everything?"

"I'm poor, overworked and frustrated most of the time. Everyone wants me to be all happy and enjoying life. I was in Heaven and now I'm in Hell and they want me to be all happy about it. Happy that I get to kill all over again and then die again eventually. I can't take my anger out on them though, but I do have Spike to beat up so that helps. Except now Dawn is all over Spike and wanting to be around him all of the time and over at his crypt. They spent the weekend in L.A without my permission; they just got back almost two hours ago. She's yelling at me saying she hates me because I told her not to be around him or I would stake him. I grounded her for a month. I'm angry I'm angry at the world and I don't really care anymore. Maybe I came back wrong I don't know, but I can't just be who I used to be I just can't."

"And you shouldn't have to be. It's not fair for them to expect you to be okay all of a sudden. Not after everything you have been through. It's why I was so worried about you all the time. I didn't show it in the best way or handle that worry properly I know that and I'm sorry for that. But you can't see what you see and do what you do without it eventually affecting you. It's not possible for you to be who you used to be before everything you've been through."

"Didn't expect you to understand. You didn't before."

"Before I was an idiot and lost track of what was important in my life. When I heard what happened to you I came right back here."

"So what do you do now? Still work for the Government?"

"I do, we have another unit set up not far from Sunnydale I got transferred there so I could be back closer to here and to make sure you were handling everything ok."

"I'm overworked and under-appreciated. Plus raising a teenager who thinks a soulless vampire is a better parent."

"He's not and she shouldn't be around him at least not for free. He's making a lot of money now." Riley said with a smirk.

"What are you talking about?"

"There's a house on the other side of town that's a demon brothel basically. Spike is working there as one of the vampire whores. He's getting paid to be fucking by humans and demons." Riley said with a smirk.

"Are you serious?" Buffy asked shocked.

"I saw it myself. You should be charging him for being around Dawn. It would take care of your money issues."

"So what I just charge him by the week?" Buffy asked interested in what Riley was saying.

"Ya, put restrictions on it and make him pay. If he truly does care about Dawn then he'll pay up. He's evil and soulless Buffy who cares what happens to him? He can't hurt a human, but that doesn't change what he is. He should have to pay for every evil thing he has ever done. Why not get some money out of him?"

"I like that. I could quit my job and just relax. Maybe take a vacation to somewhere. I like it." Buffy said with a smile.

"He's at the club all night so you'll have to wait until tomorrow to talk to him."

"You live close by?"

"Ya I got an apartment in the city and I just drive to the base every day. Why?"

"We never did get to have that make-up sex." Buffy said with a smirk.

"Let's go then." Riley said with a smile.

Buffy got up off the tombstone and went with Riley back to his place for the night. Tomorrow she would go and see Spike and make sure he paid up from now on. Then she would quit her job and just let Spike give her money. If Spike wanted Dawn in his life then he was going to be paying for it in more ways than one.

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It was five in the morning when Spike was finally allowed to leave work. He was in a great deal of pain thanks to Riley and his torture. The customers after that had just been unbearable. He was slowly making his way back to his crypt before the sun would come up. He had blood in his fridge that Angel had given him before he left so he just needed to get there and drink it and then he could sleep and heal up from everything that had happened. Spike stumbled into his crypt and went straight to the fridge. He grabbed a package of blood and took out a mug and poured it in before putting it into the microwave. After a minute it was warm enough and he took a long drink. He was shocked to find out that it wasn't pig blood, but human with a taste of Angel's blood into it. Spike smiled at the fact that Angel had made sure he would have stronger blood to help finish him healing from Buffy's attack. Spike finished the blood and then put another package into the microwave before he finished that. With Angel's blood and the human blood he would be feeling better tomorrow from his injuries. He would also go after sunset to get more blood now that he had some cash. He made five hundred tonight so he put it into his hiding spot before he went downstairs. He took a shower before he crawled under the covers and just tried to sleep the pain away.


	6. A Damaged Key

_**WARNINGS: Sex, Drug use, Swear words**_

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A Damaged Key

It was Monday morning when Buffy walked into the house. She went into the kitchen to see Tara and Willow in the kitchen, but Dawn wasn't there.

"Hey Buff, are you just getting home?" Willow asked with concern.

"Ya I was out patrolling last night then went over to a friend's place. Where's Dawn she should be up for school by now." Buffy said annoyed.

"She already left. She got up early and left before we were even up." Tara lied as Dawn didn't come home last night.

"Did she say anything to either of you last night?" Buffy asked.

"Nope. Tara went in to see her, but she was already asleep. It makes sense that she was up early after going to bed that early."

"She's grounded so if you are here and I'm not she doesn't leave this house." Buffy said.

"Got it. Now what friend's house were you at all night?" Willow said with a smile.

"You wouldn't believe who I ran into at the graveyard last night."

"Ooo okay who tell me tell me?" Willow asked excited.

"Riley." Buffy said as she sat down on a stool after getting a cup of coffee.

"Riley as in Riley Finn? Your ex-boyfriend who was working for a secret Government Agency and getting sucked by vampires, that Riley?" Willow asked.

"That would be the one Will. Anyways we just started talking in the graveyard and then we went to his place and spent the night talking and catching up."

"He's back to living in town?" Tara asked surprised that Riley would come back after everything that had happened.

"He said he heard about what happened to me and he wanted to make sure I was okay. We got to talking and he's living here again and working at a base not too far from here. Oh and he has a scar across his eye that gives him this dangerous bad boy look. Weird how a scar could make someone look totally different and the same at the same time."

"Did you two do anything other than talking?" Willow asked slightly unsure if she should be happy or not.

"We might have done other things."

"Are you sure that's a good idea? I mean things went a little crazy between the two of you." Tara said cautiously.

"I know they did, but it wasn't all on him. Mom was sick and then she died, plus Glory and all of that. It was crazy for all of us and I did forget about Riley for a while there. He apologised to me for everything and I did to him. We've put it behind us and I had a good time with him last night. Nothing serious is happening between us at all, but it did feel good to be around a guy again."

"Well if you can forgive and forget then so can I. He's always been a good guy, he's just had some issues but we all have so can't hold it against him." Willow said.

"If you're sure you want him back in your life then we'll support you of course Buffy. We just want you happy." Tara said with a smile.

"Thanks guys. It felt good to be around Riley again. I'll see what happens. For now I need to shower and get changed. Do you guys have class?"

"We do, but we're gonna be home tonight with Dawnie. I thought maybe we could make pizzas or something fun and watch some movies. Maybe she wouldn't want to be out of the house so much if she wasn't bored and alone all of the time ya know?" Willow said.

"I know she's lonely and bored I get it I do, but I have to work and I have to patrol there's nothing I can do about it. I'm going to talk to Spike and see what the hell is going on. Depending on what he says will depend on if I let Dawn around him again. Some ground rules need to be set and if he plays by the rules then she can see him."

"I think that is a very reasonable compromise." Tara said.

"Ya and Dawnie would like it too, plus if there's a night where all of us are busy then she can be with Spike or Spike could be here until someone gets home." Willow said.

"I'll see what he says and if we can agree on something. I'm gonna shower and I have to work today so I don't know if I'll be back for dinner or not." Buffy said as she got up off the stool.

"Ok well we'll make you a pizza if not and leave it in the oven for you." Willow said.

"Great I'll see you later." Buffy said as she headed out of the kitchen and upstairs to shower and get dressed.

She was looking forward to seeing Spike and making him pay. She was going to make sure he paid for his evilness. Riley was right he didn't have a soul so it didn't matter what she did to him. He was nothing and when she was done using him she would let Riley kill him. Once Buffy was showered she went and put on a knee length shirt and a top before she grabbed her boots and jacket and headed out. She had a few stops to make along the way. She was going to make sure that no one in the city would sell blood to Spike. She was going to make sure the Butcher shop or the demon bar wasn't going to sell to Spike so he would have to rely on her to bring him blood. Blood that she would make sure he paid heavily for. With her task done she went to his crypt and walked right in and went down the stairs to the bottom level. Spike was asleep on his stomach and Buffy could see his back. It had whip markings that were healing up and probably the reason why he was on his stomach and not his back like he normally does. He was also naked as usual. Buffy picked up the thick candle and threw it onto his back. Causing pain to jerk Spike awake as he rolled over onto his right side and looked at the direction the candle came from. He saw that it was Buffy and he knew he was in for either another beating or a lecture from hell.

"We have to talk Spikey."

"It's a little early don't you think?" Spike said as he sat up against the headboard and made sure the sheet was covering his hips.

"Not for me. I slept all night. We have a problem Spike. You took my sister to L.A. without my permission. Did you think I was just going to let that go? You bought her clothes and everything. That's taking it too far."

"The clothes or the trip?"

"Both. If I had it my way you would never see her again, but she seems to really like you and would make my life a living hell if I kept you from her. I could though. I could make it so that Willow put a spell around this place keeping you inside or keeping her away from here. I could put a spell on my house keeping you away. Hell I'm sure Anya might even have some kind of amulet that Dawn could wear to make it so you couldn't go anywhere near her. But you care about her right?" Buffy said in a condescending tone.

"Ya I do care about her. She's like a little sister to me."

"Good then you won't have a problem with playing by the rules then."

"And what rules would that be?"

"You can see her two nights a week. Take her to a movie or a dinner, public places not here. You don't buy her any clothing, you don't take her anywhere outside of this city, she doesn't sleep over and she has to be back home by nine at night."

"That's reasonable."

"I wasn't done with the rules Spike. See you can only see her if you do what I tell you to do. Which means when I come over you better be ready to pleasure me how I want it and when I want it."

"So in order to see your sister I have to be your little play toy? Seriously Slayer?" Spike said annoyed and frustrated.

"And also pay me two grand a week for your visits with her plus any other bills I make you pay. Which shouldn't be a problem right since you're working now or so you said." Buffy said with a smirk.

"You want me to pay you to see your sister? You want me to pay you eight grand a month plus other shit just to see her for eight hours, if that, a week. Are you off your rocker?" Spike asked with anger.

"Then you won't see her. I'll get a spell put up on this place making it so you can't leave. How long would you hold out then if you had to beg me to bring you blood? You either play by my rules or you die in here. What's it going to be Spike?" Buffy said with a cocky smile on her face. She knew Spike would agree to anything, because he was powerless against her.

Spike clenched his teeth together. He hated Buffy right now in this moment. The problem was she could lock him in here and he would have no choice, but to give in. Spike hated this, but he didn't know what would happen to Dawn if he wasn't around for her. He didn't want her to ruin her life, because Buffy was being a bitch and neglecting her.

"Fine you win Slayer." Spike said clearly not happy about it.

"I always do Spike. Now I have somewhere I have to be, but you have a lot to make up for so get over here on your knees and make me cum before I have to leave." Buffy said as she pulled up her skirt and sat down on the side table and removed her underwear.

Spike knew he didn't have a choice anymore so he got up and went over to her. He bent down on his knees and started to lick her wetness. After ten minutes Buffy had finally cam and was getting dressed again.

"I'll be by tomorrow morning for the two grand and you better have it. I expect every Sunday to be paid for the week and if you are late I'll charge you extra. Enjoy your day Spikey." Buffy said with a smile before she turned and headed up the stairs.

Spike just shook his head and headed back to his bed to try and get some sleep. He was still in a great deal of pain and now he was going to have to be working even more. The last thing he wanted to think about was having to be back at that club tonight.

Buffy headed to a house and went over to the side and knocked on the door. A rectangle slider in the door was slid open and a set of eyes could be seen before the door was unlocked and opened to Buffy. Buffy just headed down the stairs into the underground casino. She went over to one of the slot machines and inserted her member's card. Right now she had a debt of fifteen hundred on it, but she would just make Spike pay her for it also. Spike was going to be paying her a lot of money and Buffy was going to enjoy it. She had saved the world many times and had died twice now. It was time that the world gave her something back. Spike was going to be paying her for all of the good she had done in this world. She was no longer going to be a push over. She was going to take what she deserved no matter what.

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It wasn't until five that night when Dawn had finally walked into the house. She immediately went upstairs to get changed out of her clothes. She didn't want anyone to see what she had gone out in. She figured they would have thought she was at school and that was assuming anyone was even home. She went straight into her room and closed and locked her door. She put her purse down and quickly got changed into some blue jeans and a t-shirt. She took off her new necklace that Jake had given to her and put it into a special box along with all of the money and put it under her bed. She had five grand, she couldn't believe it. She couldn't wait to go out and do some shopping with it either. She was also excited because Jake was going to teach her how to drive so she could get a car. They were just waiting on the fake ID first. Jake had gotten it set up today in between fucks so it would be ready in two days and then this weekend she would learn how to drive with her new fake license. Then they would get her a car. She was so excited for it all. She could drive to L.A herself and go shopping while Buffy thought she was in school. Dawn also had three grams of cocaine that Jake had given her to get her through the night and until she saw him again after dinner with Spike tomorrow. Dawn knew she shouldn't be doing what she has been doing, but she just couldn't bring herself to care. No one else did so why should she? She was having fun and living her life for the first time and there was no way she was going to stop now. She didn't care that she woke up sore from all of the sex she loved every second of it so why stop when it felt so good.

Once dressed she headed downstairs and went over to the answering machine. She was shocked to see that there was no messages. Normally the school would have called with her being absent today.

"Looking to erase a message Dawnie?" Tara asked calmly behind her.

Dawn turned around to see Tara standing there.

"No just checking to see if any were left for me." Dawn lied.

"So you weren't looking to delete the message left by your school counselor letting Buffy know you didn't show up to class all day?" Tara asked calmly again.

"Ok so I didn't go to school today so what? I needed a mental health day kids need those too you know." Dawn said defensive as she crossed her arms over her chest.

"Come here sweetheart let's just sit down and talk real quick before Willow gets back from the store." Tara said as she went and sat down on the couch.

"Oh great queue the lecture." Dawn said as she rolled her eyes before she sat down on the couch.

"I'm not going to lecture you sweetie. I'm worried about you. I know you snuck out last night. I didn't tell Willow or Buffy and I covered for you this morning when Buffy and Willow asked why you weren't down for breakfast. I lied to them for you. So the least you could do is tell me where you were for the last twenty hours please." Tara said calmly.

"I was over at Janice's ok. I had a great weekend, but did anyone bother to ask me? No. Buffy just went off the rails the second, literally the second, I walked in the door telling me how I can't be around Spike. She was gone all weekend and so were you and Willow. What's the big deal if Spike wanted to take me to L.A. with him to visit Angel and everyone there? I had a great time you know? Cordelia, she's so cool we spent all Saturday sight-seeing and shopping. We all had dinner together all three nights. All of us, not part of us, not just me here all alone, all of us. We got to talk about work and about their lives. They didn't lie or sugar coat anything with me. They were honest and treated me like an adult. Cordelia she asked me questions about my life and listened to me. I had an amazing time and I was happy and then the second I get back here she yells at me. It's not fair." Dawn complained with complete honesty to her voice.

"I'm glad you had a great time this weekend and I'm sorry Buffy reacted badly when you got home. I don't see a problem with you going down with Spike to visit, I really don't. And I know we haven't been around much recently and I'm sorry. We all got so busy with our lives we forgot that you need people too. I'm sorry sweetie and from now on I'm going to be here for you more and we can do things together again like we used to. I promise I'm going to be around more for you. I didn't mean to hurt your feelings or make you feel like you weren't wanted."

"I know you guys are busy I get it. It just sucks eating alone every single night. Now I'm grounded for a month because I went to L.A with Spike. It's no fair and it's stupid."

"I know it's not fair, but in Buffy's defense she didn't know where you were going and she was shocked when she found out when she got back. I think she knows she went off the handle too much and she was going to speak to Spike about some ground rules to follow so you and him can still hang out together."

"Good because I wasn't just going to stop seeing him because she said so. He's my friend, he's like a brother to me and I'm not going to just stop seeing him and I shouldn't have to."

"I agree and hopefully they will work something out. Spike said he was going to take you to dinner tomorrow night."

"Ya hopefully we still can."

"I'm sure you will be able to. Willow went to the grocery store to pick up some food and she thought we could have a movie night and make our own pizzas, how does that sound?"

"Sounds awesome and yummy." Dawn answered with a smile as the front door opened and Willow walked in with some grocery bags.

"Hey Dawnie, I got pizza goodies." Willow said with a smile.

"Ya Tara just told me. Yum. I'll come help." Dawn said as she stood up and so did Tara.

They all went into the kitchen to put the food away and work on making dinner before their movie night.

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It was Tuesday night and it was just before sundown. Spike had already seen Buffy this morning to collect on the money. Spike had used everything he had saved up for the rent this month and gave it to her. He already figured out that he would have to be working some day shifts as well as night shifts for the club in order to make enough money. He also wanted to be able to still go down to L.A to see Angel a couple weekends a month so he had to make sure everything was covered. He knew Buffy would also be bringing something else up that he would have to pay so he needed to make sure there was extra money saved up as well. He had drank another two packages of blood today to help him heal up after the other night. He was in better condition at least after the blood and he was hoping tonight wouldn't be so bad as long as Buffy stopped beating him he could handle the sex. After all he was a soulless thing so sex shouldn't bother him.

His door opened and Dawn came walking in with a smile on her face and a brown bag in her hands.

"What do you got there Niblet?" Spike asked with a smile.

"I bought you some blood. I know you've been working a lot at night so I thought I would get you some blood in case you were running low." Dawn said as she went over to the fridge to put it away.

"You didn't have to do that for me Luv." Spike said with appreciation in his voice.

"I know, but I wanted to and I was right you are running low." Dawn said as she closed the fridge door.

"So where to for dinner tonight?" Spike asked.

"Not pizza. I just had that last night with Tara and Willow."

"Oh did you now?"

"Ya they stayed home last night and we made our own pizzas. It was good, but I don't want pizza two nights in a row at least."

"We had Chinese last time. How about burgers?" Spike suggested.

"Sounds good to me. Afterwards I'm going over to Janice's to work on a school project." Dawn said as they headed out of the crypt.

They walked down to the restaurant and once they had their orders put in and drinks brought over Spike decided that now would be as good of a time to bring up a few things as any.

"So Niblet I'm going to do this thing with you. It might backfire, but I hope it doesn't."

"Um ok. What's up?" Dawn said slightly unsure of the situation.

"You get ten minutes of freedom. Ten minutes where you can tell me anything and I can't mad at you about it. Ten minutes where you could tell me you robbed a bank or something and I can't get mad at you. I won't lecture you I will just talk to you and you can talk right back at me. Neither of us gets upset or angry at the other that's the deal. You be honest with me and I will be honest with you." Spike calmly explained.

"What just for tonight?" Dawn asked with curiosity.

"No anytime you need ten minutes of freedom you just tell me and we'll follow the rules."

"So during these ten minutes you have to be honest with me too right?"

"Yes." Spike half lied. He wasn't about to tell Dawn about Buffy or what he did for a living.

"Ok then are you the one paying the bills?" Dawn asked in a challenging voice.

"I am. I work for different demons to get the cash to pay the bills so you can live in the house that your mom wanted you to be in."

"But then where is all of Buffy's money going?"

"I don't know Niblet. We don't talk about it and she doesn't even know I'm paying the bills. I don't even know if she knows that the bills are being paid. She's in her own world right now."

"No kidding. She didn't come home last night and apparently she quit her job."

"Did she tell you that?"

"No I was there when her boss called and wanted her to return her uniform. I heard the voicemail left on the machine. I don't get it, but whatever she clearly doesn't care about me then I don't care about her."

"I know things haven't been easy on your Niblet."

"It's better than it was. I made some new friends and I have a boyfriend now."

"Oh really. And who might that be?" Spike asked calmly even though he wanted nothing more than to find this guy and kill him.

"His name is Jake and I met him at a party one night a month ago. He's awesome and being around him really makes me feel special and wanted. It's nice feeling normal and not just this mystic key that got her sister killed." Dawn admitted.

"I don't see you as that. Do you feel like the others do?"

"I don't think Tara does. I think she just got caught up in her break-up and then getting back together with Willow to really be around. It couldn't have been easy on her. Giles, I mean he left the Country, twice, and he doesn't call to check in anymore. I mean I get it, but at the same time I don't get it ya know? And then Willow and Xander, they were best friends for years so they totally look at me like I was the one that was supposed to die. If I had died then Buffy wouldn't have and they wouldn't have gone all Wicka circle over my grave to bring me back. Willow's trying to go back to normal, but it's just awkward and Xander doesn't say much to me. And Anya is just Anya. So ya it feels like I'm this person that is here, but isn't supposed to even be alive right now. I wasn't born, I was made by monks. Sometimes it feels like I don't really exist and then they ignore me and that feeling gets worse." Dawn said sadly with complete honesty to her voice.

"I'm so sorry Niblet. I had no idea you felt that way. Listen to me, I'm over a century old. I shouldn't be alive either, but I am. It doesn't matter if you were supposed to be alive or not, because you are and that doesn't give them the right to ignore you and treat you poorly. You deserve the life you have been given no matter how it was given to you Niblet. Don't ever doubt that." Spike said in a serious voice.

"I really liked being in L.A. I know you got an ear full from Buffy about it, but I really liked being there. No one talked down to me or treated me like I was invisible or some little kid. I could just be me without judgement or a lecture. I felt wanted for like the first time. I really didn't want to leave."

"I didn't want to leave either Niblet."

"Then why did we?"

"Because Buffy is your guardian and I can't just take you to live in L.A."

"Ya she's my guardian, but you are the one there for me and making sure I am taken care of and the bills are paid. Last time I checked that was what a guardian was supposed to be doing."

"Legally she is your guardian and I am a man that technically doesn't exist. I know it's hard, but hopefully it will get easier and she'll adjust to everything that has happened."

"But what if she never adjusts? Am I just supposed to say too bad and deal with her neglecting and ignoring me for the next three years? I mean come on Spike, when is it too much?"

"I don't have the answer to that Niblet I wish I did for you, but I don't have those answers. We're just gonna have to play it by day and see how it goes. If she gets worse though let me know and I'll see what I can do."

"Ya ok." Dawn said as their food came.

Spike had just gotten some fries while Dawn got a burger and fries. Spike decided to change the topic and get back to what he truly wanted to talk about.

"So tell me about this boy. Have you done anything I should know about?"

"What like kissing and telling stuff?" Dawn asked with a smirk.

"If I need to ask if you have condoms type of stuff."

"I have condoms." Dawn said with a shrug.

"Are you using them?"

"Why would I have them if I don't use them?" Dawn asked with a smirk and a complete lie. She didn't have condoms and she wasn't using them, but Spike didn't need to know that.

"He breaks your heart I'll break his neck." Spike said in a deadly tone.

"I know you will and he won't he's really great."

"So you met him at a party I'm assuming there was drinking involved."

"Ya so what? I'm a teenager it's in the handbook to experiment with alcohol."

"I know it is. I'm an old Englishman and I still did it at your age. What about drugs? You need to be careful going to parties and making sure no one slips you something."

"I know Cordelia already told me and ya some drugs get passed around, but I don't take." Dawn lied.

"Good it's not safe or smart to do that shit. Not even I did it." Spike said, but his heart broke at the fact that he could tell she was lying to him about it. Her heartbeat had picked up at just the thought of it.

"Ya no I so don't do that. I did skip school on Monday though."

"Why did you do that? If the Guidance Counselor starts keeping track you could be putting yourself at risk Niblet."

"I was upset with Buffy and the way she just yelled at me like that. I literally just walked in the door and she starts to yell at me. It wasn't fair so I snuck out and stayed with Janice."

Spike could tell that was another lie and he assumed it meant she spent the night with her boyfriend.

"You need to go to school it's important for your future. Don't flip burgers for the rest of your life just to spite big sis."

"I know and I'll go to my classes. I went today and I've already caught up on the work that I had missed. She doesn't even know I wasn't there at school or in the house Sunday night. That's how much she pays attention. But whatever it's fine if she doesn't need me then I don't need her." Dawn said with confidence, but Spike could see the hurt in her eyes from it.

"Of course you need her Niblet, she's your big sis and you have every right to feel hurt or angry at what she's been doing recently. You have every right to be feeling the way that you do and don't let anyone tell you otherwise."

"Thanks Spike, you always seem to understand."

"Sometimes I won't, but I promise I will always try Pet."

"So do you have to work tonight?"

"I do have to work for a little while. I can drop you off at Janice's though."

"I would say you don't have to, but I know you will do it anyways so." Dawn said with a smile.

"You're bloody right I will."

They ate the rest of their meal and continued talking about how Dawn's school was going and lighter things. Once they were done Spike walked Dawn to Janice's who waived as she went in. Spike then headed off in the direction of the club. He was going to have to work all night and all day tomorrow and tomorrow night to make up some money that he would need. Spike was just hoping they wouldn't be too rough on him so he could be able to still move around without injuries. Spike felt horrible after the conversation with Dawn and even more worried so he sent Angel a quick text.

'_Can I call?'_

Spike really wished he was in L.A right now where he didn't have to worry about Buffy trying to hurt him or being at the club being used by anyone who is willing to pay for it. He wished Dawn could be in L.A and have a fresh start and a chance to be happy and accepted. Spike knew that was nothing more than just a dream though so he pushed that thought aside. A minute later his phone rang and Spike gave a small smile at seeing that it was Angel.

"Hello Luv."

"Of course you can call me anytime you want Will." Angel said calmly.

"I just didn't want to call you if you were in the middle of a fight or something. Didn't want to bother you is all."

"The only time you bother me is when you actively try to bother me. What's wrong? I'm getting some serious feelings from you." Angel asked with concern.

Spike let out a sigh before he spoke.

"It's a long story and one I can't get into right now, but I just had that conversation with the Niblet over dinner. I don't know what I feel more of angry, hurt, frustrated or useless right now." Spike said sadly and Angel could feel he hurt running deep inside of him.

"What did she tell you?" Angel asked with concern.

"She told me she had a boyfriend and that she was having sex. She told me that she has drank before. There is other stuff that I can't get into right now and it's really not a conversation that should be had over the phone. I just needed to hear your voice as pathetic as that sounds coming from a Master Vampire." Spike said and Angel could hear the embarrassment through their bond.

"We're a unique Master Vampires Will, we're more human than any demon or vampire. It's not pathetic to be in need of hearing a voice from someone that cares about you. I hate that we're apart right now. I was thinking though of coming down there to visit for the weekend. I could be there Friday after sunset if you want."

"I'd love to see you and I know the Niblet would too."

"Good then I'll come down and just crash at your place if you don't mind."

"Not at all Pet. You sure you won't mind slumming it."

"I'll be with you so it will never be slumming it. What are you doing tonight?"

"Working. You? Any visions?"

"Cordelia had one earlier that we took care of. I'm going to patrol and see if I can find anything. Be safe tonight."

"I'm going to be working for the next couple of days straight through to get some dosh saved up. So I might not be texting you often, but I'll check in with ya every once and a while."

"What kind of job are you doing?" Angel asked with concern now.

"An indoor one for starters. Just doing something with a demon clan that needed some extra help is all. Nothing dangerous honest it's just time consuming is all."

"I don't like you working so much."

"I don't either, but I need to for the Niblet so I am. But I'll see you Friday night and that will be my reward for all the hard work this week."

"I'll help you relax and unwind."

"I'm sure you will. So I'll see you Friday then?"

"I'll be there just after sunset. We can talk properly and hopefully I can see Dawn."

"I'll let her know that you'll be in town."

"Are you going to be okay until then?" Angel asked with concern.

"Ya I'll be fine don't worry about me."

"I can't help but worry about you sometimes. I'll see you Friday night."

"Can't wait."

"Me either. Let me know how it goes over the next few days."

"I will. I got to get going though I'll see you Friday."

"Be safe and I'll see you Friday night."

"Bye Sire."

"Goodbye my sweet Childe."

Spike sent Dawn a text after ending the call.

'_Angel is going to be in town Friday after sunset. He would like to see you.'_

Spike put his cell phone back into his pocket and he headed off for the club. He would work until Friday morning at sunrise and then he would go back home and get some sleep before Angel came on Friday.

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Dawn headed up to Janice's room. She walked in and closed the door behind her with a smile.

"Oh my God I got invited by Jake to go to this party at one of his friend's place Saturday. It's going to be awesome."

"What? Lucky I wish I could be going. Are we still meeting up with Jake tonight?"

"Totally. When is Chris going to be here?"

"In about ten minutes. Are you going to be wearing that or do you want to borrow an outfit?"

"I'm so not wearing this." Dawn said as she went over to Janice's closet.

Janice was wearing a tight black dress with heals. Dawn decided to go with a leopard print skirt that was barely long enough to cover her ass and a low cut halter top. She removed her bra and her thong before she put on a pair of heeled boots. She grabbed her leather jacket and put it on over top. She then grabbed her purse, inside she had a few hundred dollars just in case and she pulled out the cocaine she had been given Sunday night.

"Want some?" Dawn asked with a smile.

"Like you have to ask." Janice said with a smirk.

Dawn got them out two big lines and they both took it. They then headed out of the window and down the street to meet up with Chris.

"I don't know about you, but I have this strong urge to get into trouble tonight. I want to cause some havoc." Dawn said.

"Me too. I bet we can get into some serious havoc with them."

Chris pulled up and they both got into the car both with a smile on their faces.

"You both look delicious as usual."

"Thanks baby. Dawn was just saying have she was feeling like getting into some havoc tonight." Janice said.

"I think we can do that. The night is young." Chris said with a smirk.

They took off for Jake's place and once there they headed inside. Jake was alone and Dawn went over to him and gave him a heated kiss.

"I missed you baby." Jake said.

"I missed you too."

"The girls are looking to get into some trouble tonight." Chris said.

"Trouble we can do. And look what I have." Jake said as he pulled out Dawn's new fake driver's license.

"Already serious we just did it yesterday." Dawn said with a smile as she took it.

"I told you I would have it for you. I think the first stop tonight is to the tattoo parlor. I think it's time my girl got some ink on her." Jake said.

"A tattoo awesome and I know exactly what to get." Dawn said with a smile.

"Then we should go to the sex shop." Chris said.

"I've never been in a sex shop before. I am totally down for that." Janice said.

"Followed by some destruction. I'm thinking that principal of ours needs a good lesion." Dawn said with a smirk at Janice.

"Oh fuck ya he does. His bright new shinny car, it sure would be a shame if something happened to it." Janice said with a smile.

"Where does he live?" Jake asked.

"On the outskirts. Closest neighbor is a mile away and I heard he was stuck at some conference meeting in the next town over. He won't be back until the morning and he left his new car here cause he was carpooling. It's the perfect chance to screw it up." Janice said.

"Then let's get out of here." Jake said.

"Hang on I want one more line first. Something to help block out the pain from the tattoo." Dawn said.

"Anything for my girl." Jake said.

He went and grabbed some from Sunday night and he put four lines down on the table. They all took their lines before Jake and Chris grabbed a few things to stick into the car before they got into Jake's car and took off.

"So what are you going to get?" Janice asked.

"I've always wanted one on my lower back." Dawn said.

"A tramp stamp is cool as long as it's not some tribal symbol." Janice said.

"Something nice so when I'm fucking you from behind I can see it." Jake said with a smirk.

"I was thinking some flowers on a vine running through a skull." Dawn said.

"That sounds sexy as hell baby." Jake said.

"Tonight is going to be so much fun. I can't wait to make that asshole of a principal pay. He gave me detention again for showing up late. I'm sick of his shit." Janice said.

"Same. He pulled me into the office today to talk to me about my home life. He was concerned about me. Fucking asshole." Dawn said.

"He probably just wanted to get you alone. He doesn't fucking care about your home life baby. I care about it. That's why I want you to spend the night with me again. Away from that sister of yours." Jake said.

"She is so stupid. I hate her."

"You can always stay with me as long as you want baby." Jake said.

"Thanks babe. Living with you definitely has perks." Dawn said with a smirk.

"That is does baby." Jake said as he moved his right hand and put it up Dawn's skirt and rubbed Dawn's clit for a second before he pulled his hand back and sucked on his finger. "Mm so sweet tasting."

"You really are." Janice said with a smile.

Dawn giggled at her friend as they pulled up out front of the tattoo parlor.

"This guy is a friend of mine. He does great work and he'll take care of you." Jake said as he parked.

They all got out of the car and headed inside the shop. It was empty except for a man in his thirties sitting behind the desk.

"Hey Jake man, how are ya?"

"Good man. Dov, this is my girl Dawn. Dawn this is Dov."

"Nice to meet you." Dawn said with a smile.

"Always a pleasure to meet a beautiful woman. What can I do for you?"

"I'm looking to get a tramp stamp." Dawn answered.

"It's her first time." Jake said.

"Then I'll be extra careful. Any idea what you want?"

"Ya I know what I want."

"Perfect tell me and I will draw it up and then tattoo it on you."

Dov and Dawn went over to the drawing station and she got Dov to draw up the tattoo. Once it was ready she went into the back with him and Jake went in there with her. Dawn straddled the chair as Dov sat behind her so he could tattoo her. Jake stood in front and smirked as Dawn spread her legs more to show him her crotch.

"Alright this will hurt in spots, but you look tough. I can always give you something special to get you through the pain afterwards." Dov said.

"Dov has great shit." Jake said with a smirk.

"Looking forward to it." Dawn said.

Dov got to work on the tattoo and it didn't hurt too badly at first, but then I really started it hurt. Dawn was able to push through it and after almost two hours it was finished. Jake went around to look at it and he smiled.

"It looks so sexy baby. I can't wait to try it out."

"Can't wait." Dawn said as Dov handed her a mirror.

She used it to look at her new tattoo and she loved it.

"Oh looks awesome thanks Dov." Dawn said with a smile.

"Anytime. If you want anything else just come back. I also do piercings. And this is for you to help with the pain later." Dov said as he handed Dawn a small baggie of white powder.

"What is it?" Dawn asked.

"A special mixture of coke and MDA. It will eliminate the pain and it will make you completely relaxed." Dov explained.

"It will also make you so horny you'll want to fuck for days on it." Jake whispered in Dawn's ear.

"So I should save that for later when we are back at your place then." Dawn said with a smile. "How much do I owe you?" Dawn asked Dov.

"I got it." Jake said as he handed Dov the right amount of money that he normally charges.

"I don't mind getting it." Dawn said.

"You are my girl and I take care of my girl. See you around Dov."

"See ya. It was nice meeting you Dawn. I hope I see you again."

"Oh you definitely will."

Dawn and Jake headed back out to where Chris and Janice had been waiting.

"Yay let's see it." Janice said as she stood up.

Dawn turned around to show off her new tattoo.

"Oh that is so awesome." Janice said.

"Very sexy. I wasn't sure at first but that looks amazing." Chris said.

"Thanks guys. Now the sex shop?" Dawn asked with a smile.

"Hell ya. I'm thinking of some handcuffs." Janice said with a smile.

"Maybe a school girl uniform." Dawn said with a smirk as she looked at Jake. "You aren't afraid of a little role playing right?" Dawn asked with a flirty smile.

"Not at all baby."

They got into the car and started to head off for the sex shop.

"What do I need to wear for this party on Saturday?" Dawn asked Jake.

"What party?" Chris asked.

"Mike invited us to one of his parties on Saturday." Jake said.

"Oh lucky girl. You'll love it." Chris said.

"As for clothing you will need to go to the lingerie store. It's a sex party he throws one every month. All of the girls show up in sexy lingerie." Jake said.

"So it's a swingers party then?" Janice asked.

"Exactly, only you don't get to fuck other guys unless I am there with you and I won't fuck other girls unless you are there with me. Mike has a room covered in mirrors, he has one with a sex swing in it. He has a heated pool and a hot tub. Plus he gets Dov to supply him with all of the party favors you could ever imagine. It will be the time of your life baby." Jake said.

"Then I guess I better do some shopping this week." Dawn said with a smile.

They headed to the sex shop and they all went in and did some shopping. Once they were done they headed out to the outskirts so they could visit Dawn and Janice's principal. They arrived and the lights were off and his new Mercedes was sitting parked in the driveway.

"What are we going to do to it?" Dawn asked with a smile.

"First we all need to put on gloves and then we are going to destroy it." Jake said as he handed Dawn a pair of black leather gloves. She put them on and they all got out of the car.

They went to the trunk and Jake opened it. Inside were crowbars, hammers and various other weapons they could use to smash the car. They all grabbed something and then headed over to the car. They slashed the tires, broke the windows, cut up the seats and smashed the roof completely in along with other dents all over it.

"That will teach him to fuck we us." Dawn said with a smirk.

"The party isn't over yet." Jake said with a smile as he headed towards the house.

They all followed him as he picked the lock on the front door before he walked in. There was no alarm so they all went in with him and started to destroy the house. They broke everything they could and smashed all of the windows. They did it quickly and then they all laughed and ran back to Jake's car. They pulled out of the driveway and took off back to Jake's house.

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It was just before seven at night on Friday when Buffy had stormed into Spike's crypt. He had arrived back at his place after working for the past thirty-six hours straight. He had come back to take a shower and drink five packages of blood that he had left after not eating for the past thirty-six hours. He had wanted to get some on a quick twenty minute break so he went to Willy's only to find out that the Slayer had gone to him and to the only butcher shop in town and threatened them against giving him any blood. Now nowhere in the city will give him blood so he had gone a day and a half without blood. When he got here he drank as much as he could as he knew he could get Angel to go in and buy him more. After that he would have to go out of town for it. It was an annoyance, but one he would have to deal with. After showering and drinking the blood he had gone down to his bedroom to get some sleep. He was still asleep when Buffy came walking into his room. Spike was asleep on his back Buffy decided to wake him up by pouring some holy water onto his chest. She smiled as she took out a small vile of it and she went over to the side of the bed and poured it onto his chest. Once the holy water started to smoke Spike woke up with a start and he used the sheet to wipe the holy water off from him.

"Bloody hell Slayer." Spike said with anger as he saw Buffy's smiling face.

"Had to wake you up somehow didn't I?" Buffy said as she walked back over to the foot of the bed.

"Normal people just call out." Spike said. "But then normal people knock and wait to be allowed in." Spike added as he sat back on his bed.

Neither of them heard or noticed the vampire that had walked into Spike's crypt that was upstairs listening in to their conversation.

"Ya well you're not people. You're just a soulless thing so it doesn't matter what I do to you. Where have you been these past two days? I came by and you weren't here."

"I've been working. You know that thing you don't do anymore."

"Why should I work when all of my bills are being paid?"

"Because that is what grown-ups do. They support themselves, especially when they have to raise a teenager."

"Speaking of teenagers you know the rules. You can see her for eight hours a week as long as you pleasure me whenever and however I want it. You haven't been following that rule Spikey." Buffy said in a condescending tone.

"Ya I also have to pay you each week to see her."

"You agreed to it."

"Because if I didn't you were going to put a spell around here so I couldn't even leave my crypt or put a spell on the Niblet to keep her from me. I'm not about to let you do that to her and I'm not about to die down here and leave her all alone. Didn't really have much of a choice now did I?" Spike said with anger.

"Then why fight it. You owe me for the last couple of days so get on your knees and make me feel something." Buffy said in a demanding tone.

"Hey Spike, you here?" Angel called out from upstairs to make his presence known. Him and Spike weren't in some committed relationship they both could sleep with other people if they wanted to. But Angel wasn't going to stand here and listen to Spike and Buffy going at it, especially when it was clear Spike didn't want it.

"Down here mate!" Spike called back.

Angel jumped down the hole and gave Buffy a tight smile.

"Hello Buffy."

"Angel, what the hell are you doing here?" Buffy asked with a smile as she went over to Angel to give him a hug.

Angel hugged her back quickly before he stepped back. He looked at Spike and he could see the burn on his chest. Spike looked down at his lap from embarrassment.

"What happened to you?" Angel asked with concern.

"Had a little accident with holy water." Spike said weakly as he looked at Buffy.

"I told you vampires shouldn't play with holy water." Buffy said with a smirk.

"Ya silly me." Spike said sarcastically.

"So Angel what brings you by?" Buffy asked.

"I came to visit Spike and Dawn I'm hoping." Angel answered.

"Ya she's going to meet us in thirty at the bowling alley. Neon bowling is on tonight and she thought it would be fun." Spike said with a shrug.

"Sounds good to me. I brought her a surprise." Angel said.

"What is that?" Spike asked.

"Spike! Angel!"

"That would be the surprise." Angel said with a smile.

"You brought her Cordelia?" Spike asked with a laugh.

"Yes I did. Down here Cordy!" Angel called out.

Cordelia came down the ladder and went over to everyone else.

"Hey Spike. Nice look." Cordelia said with a smile.

"Room for another." Spike said with a smile as he patted the empty side of the bed.

"Ooo tempting." Cordelia said with a wink.

"Ok could somebody please tell me what the hell is going on." Buffy said with anger and annoyance in her voice.

"We came down to visit Spike and Dawnie. Where is Dawnie?" Cordelia asked.

"We're meeting her at the bowling alley in thirty. So we need to leave soon." Angel said.

"We're going bowling?" Cordelia asked clearly not too happy about it.

"Neon bowling, it was the Niblet's idea. They do liquor though Luv." Spike said with a smirk.

"Oh then totally cool with me." Cordelia said with a smile.

"Dawn is grounded for a month. She's not allowed to go anywhere and you would have known that had you checked in with me first. I am her guardian." Buffy said with anger.

"Why is she grounded?" Cordelia asked, but she already knew the answer from Dawn herself who had texted her ranting on about Buffy.

"For going to L.A last weekend without even telling me. She's not going anywhere." Buffy said.

"If she is grounded then why did you let her go to dinner with me on Tuesday?" Spike asked with a smirk. He knew he would be paying for this later, but right now she couldn't do anything with Angel and Cordelia around.

"You know why." Buffy said.

"Right well then if she can't go anywhere with me for the next month then I guess our deal just starts next month then. Unless you want to make it where she can go out with me and still be grounded." Spike said with a smirk as he could feel the anger radiating off Buffy.

"Fine, but she better be home by eleven." Buffy said with a deadly tone.

"Jeeze Buffy relax she's with us. It's not like we're strangers. Go out and have some fun you look like you could use it." Cordelia said.

"I'm too busy raising a teenager to go out and have fun thanks." Buffy said with attitude back at Cordelia.

"Well tonight she will be with us. So go enjoy your evening. Spike needs to get dressed if we are going to make it on time." Angel said.

"Last time I checked he wasn't shy." Buffy said.

"Doesn't mean he should have to get dressed in a room full of people. We'll meet you upstairs Spike." Angel said.

Cordelia headed towards the stairs and a reluctant Buffy started to as well. Angel went as well, but stopped once he heard Spike's voice.

"Angel hang on a sec I need to talk to you real quick."

Cordelia just smiled as she knew Spike just wanted a few minutes alone with Angel probably to cool off after seeing Buffy. Both Buffy and Cordelia headed up the ladder and Buffy stormed out clearly not happy that she had lost whatever battle that was. Cordelia couldn't help but chuckle and shake her head. Buffy was clearly not the same Buffy she knew back in high school.

Angel went over to Spike who was still sitting on the bed. He pulled Spike into a gentle hug being careful of his burn. Spike hugged him back and placed his head on Angel's chest.

"How long were you up there for?" Spike asked softly.

"Long enough to know that we need to have a serious conversation later on tonight."

Spike let out a sigh before he gave a nod and he moved back. Angel placed his hand against Spike's cheek as he leaned in and gave Spike a kiss.

"I missed you." Angel said after he pulled back slightly.

"I missed you too. It's funny, we've spent over a century trying to stay as far away from each other as possible. Now we can't even go a week without seeing each other. Whoever would have thought."

"After that one night we shared I had to stay away from you. Every time I was around you my demon wanted you, called out for you. I hated seeing you with Drusilla. I would be thinking about you while I was with Darla, imagining it was your smooth skin underneath me. I've waited a long time for you to be mine and now that you are, I'm not letting you go Will." Angel said honestly.

"I don't want you to Liam." Spike said honestly back.

"Yet there is this fear in you. I can constantly feel it from you. Why are you so afraid?"

"I'm a screw up, a disgrace, I'm just this evil, soulless thing and one day you'll see that and you'll leave, so I'm terrified because as stupid as it may sound I don't think I could handle you leaving. I don't think I'll survive having to do this on my own anymore." Spike said softly and Angel could hear and feel the hurt in Spike.

"You are not any of those things. It's what Sunnydale has done to you. What those people have done to you. They have you believing in all of that. Believing that you don't matter. That you deserve to be hurt and you are nothing but some thing. It's not true and I won't let you believe it. I'm not going anywhere I don't care what job you might have to do for some demon. You're not a disgrace. You are brave and good. You are stronger and courageous for doing what you are doing. You are raising a teenage girl with her own problems. You're doing that. An evil, soulless thing wouldn't do something like that. You have nothing to be ashamed of. Now come on we have a bowling game to get to. We can talk more later curled up in bed."

Spike gave a nod and Angel got off the bed so Spike could get up and get dressed. Once Spike was dressed they both headed up the ladder and headed out with Cordelia. They got into Angel's car and Cordelia spoke.

"What is her deal? Seriously I thought that attitude would be just for Spike, but she is totally pissed off at the world. I mean here we come, a two hour drive just to see her kid sister and she acts like that. I thought Dawnie was exaggerating about the level of bitch that Buffy was being, but she was dead on. She might have even been under exaggerating here."

"Ya sorry about that Pet. She doesn't like me."

"What is with the rules thing?" Cordelia asked.

"I can only get the Niblet for eight hours a week and that's it. I can't take her out of the city, she can't be at my place, I can't take her through the graveyard at night, etc. etc."

"Really that's it? It seemed like there was something more to it there." Cordelia asked.

"I also have to pay her a certain amount of money each week to see the Niblet for the eight hours." Spike said clearly not happy about it.

"Wait what? She does realise that it sounds like she's pimping her little sister off two nights a week right? I mean how much do you have to pay her?" Cordelia asked appalled by this piece of information.

"Let's just say it's enough that she has decided to not work anymore." Spike said.

"That's bullshit. She's a grown ass woman she should be working to pay for her bills. It's not your fault she dropped out of college and barely passed high school. She could have worked somewhere like an office if she didn't want to flip burgers. It's not your job to be paying her bills plus having to give her money just so you could see Dawnie." Cordelia said pissed off.

"Doesn't she realise that by keeping you away from Dawn it is just going to make her more distant and struggle more." Angel said not happy at all that Buffy was clearly taking advantage of Spike even more now.

"Apparently not. I'm really glad you came along too Pet the Niblet could use a normal female friend right now. I don't like that Janice bird." Spike said.

"Hey I'm happy to come. Dawnie and me have been texting every day since you guys left last week. She was really upset Sunday after Buffy lost it on her. I don't know who this Janice chic is, but I have to agree I think she's bad news." Cordelia said.

"She is the one that got Niblet to go to that college party where she met her boyfriend who she has only been seeing for a month and she is already having sex with him. She's fifteen and he's nineteen and they're having sex after a month. I don't like it." Spike said with anger in his voice.

"At least she told you she had a boyfriend and has had sex and drank. How did you get her to admit it?" Cordelia asked.

"I told her she got ten minutes where she could tell me anything and I wouldn't get mad over it. That whenever she needed to tell me something and didn't want me to get mad about it to tell me she needed ten minutes of freedom. I don't know if it'll work again, but I'm hoping it will. I don't want her getting into trouble and not coming to me because she's afraid I'll get pissed at her." Spike explained.

"That was the right move to make Spike. That was good." Angel said with support in his voice.

"That was the right choice. It gives her the options now that she could come to you. My parents were never like that with me. I was terrified to tell them anything and as a result I barely talk to them now. That ten minute thing is good because you can still be that big brother, but at the same time be the parent for when she needs you to be." Cordelia said agreeing.

"Thanks Pet I appreciate that." Spike said honestly.

"Look, I know this isn't something you want to think about, but what is going to happen if Buffy doesn't get better?" Cordelia asked.

"The Niblet asked me the same thing. I don't know what to do then. I really don't all I can do is hope that that doesn't happen." Spike said sadly.

"I hope so too." Cordelia said as they pulled up to the bowling alley.

"The Niblet doesn't know about the arrangement and I want to keep it that way."

"We would never say anything. We're just here to have a good time." Angel reassured Spike.

"Let's go I need a drink first though." Cordelia said with a smile.

They headed towards the door and Dawn was standing outside. She came over to them with a huge smile on her face. Cordelia pulled Dawn into a hug.

"Oh my God I didn't know you were coming. This is awesome." Dawn said with a huge smile on her face as she hugged Cordelia.

"I wanted to surprise you." Cordelia said as she pulled back.

"Totally surprised. Hey Angel." Dawn said as she went over to give Angel a hug.

Angel hugged her back as he spoke.

"Hello Dawnie. It's good to see you again."

"Alright let's take this inside." Spike said as he put an arm around Dawn's shoulders and they headed inside.

Once they got their table and their shoes, which was new for Angel and Spike. They had never been bowling in their entire existence before and they never thought they would ever be going bowling at their age either. Cordelia came back over with a drink for herself and a pop for Dawn.

"So boys versus girls?" Cordelia asked with a smirk.

"Ya, but no extra strength if you know what I mean." Dawn said as she pointed her finger at both Angel and Spike.

"Spoil sport." Spike said with a smirk.

"That's okay we don't need it to beat a couple of girls." Angel teased.

Spike gave a small chuckle to that.

"Oh it is so on now. I am not someone that bowls or has ever thought I would be bowling, but now it is so on and you are going down." Cordelia said.

"I guess us little girls will go first. After all those big strong men are going to beat us." Dawn said with a smile as she went to grab the first ball.

"You do know if we lose we will never hear the end of this right?" Spike whispered to Angel.

"I know and I have to drive back with her Sunday." Angel whispered back.

Spike looked over at Dawn and when she bent down to throw the ball Spike saw the tattoo.

"Oi what the bloody hell is that on your back." Spike said with anger.

Dawn turned around with a smile.

"Strike, oh ya that's right."

"Niblet, what is that on your back." Spike asked with anger again.

"Oh cool right?" Dawn turned around so she could show Cordelia her new tattoo.

"Wow. When did you get that?" Cordelia asked afraid to say the wrong thing right now.

"Tuesday night. So awesome."

"That washes off right?" Spike asked angrily.

"No it's real." Dawn said.

"I dropped you off a Janice's Tuesday night after dinner because you had a school project to finish. When did you find the time to go and get a tattoo and where the hell did you get the money to pay for it?" Spike asked clearly not happy about it.

"We went out afterwards and Jake paid for it. We went to his tattoo guy the four of us."

"Four of you?" Spike asked.

"Janice and Chris came."

"Of course they did. Where did you sleep Tuesday night Niblet?"

"Over at Jake's place. It's not like Buffy was home. I overheard her and Willow talking that Riley is back in town and she's been going over to see him at night. Why spend the night in an empty house when I could be with Jake, someone who cares. Seemed like a no brainer to me."

"You are fifteen years old Niblet and he is nineteen. There's nothing wrong with dating someone older, but you have to protect yourself from being manipulated or influenced in a bad way. You have a tattoo and your fifteen you aren't even legally able to get one. You're starting to scare me Niblet." Spike said honestly.

"It's just a tattoo that's all Spike. I know the difference between right and wrong. It's not a big deal." Dawn said.

"You met him a month ago and now you have a five hundred dollar tattoo above your ass." Spike said.

"I think what Spike is saying is that he's just concerned about you. None of us want you to get hurt by Jake is all Sweetie. Take it from someone who has made many mistakes with guys, it always starts off good and then it goes downhill pretty quickly. Just make sure you protect your heart at first and not do something that you'll regret later." Cordelia said calmly.

"I know that. I didn't just pick out the tattoo from a book I designed it. I'm not going to regret it. Jake is a great guy Spike really. Nothing bad is happening."

"If he's such a great guy then why don't we all go to dinner one night so I can meet him." Spike suggested.

"Because you'll do that thing where you try to scare him away."

"And if I promise I won't do anything to try and scare him away?"

"Then fine you can meet him. But you can't try and scare him away. I don't have really any friends and I don't want to lose the ones that I finally have."

"I give you my word I won't try and scare him away. I'll play nice, I'll play human."

"Fine and it's your go." Dawn said with a smirk.

They spent the next two hours bowling before they headed out and grabbed a snack. They had spent the rest of the time together talking about nothing important at all. When it was just before eleven they pulled up out front of Buffy's house.

"We still on for tomorrow Niblet?" Spike asked.

"Hell ya. Are you still going to teach me how to fight?" Dawn asked excited.

"I am. How about noon?" Spike asked.

"Sounds good to me. I'll meet you there."

"I'll be there too and afterwards we can all go for dinner." Cordelia said.

"Awesome I'll see you guys tomorrow." Dawn said as she got out of the car and headed for the door. She went inside and then headed up to her room. She got changed and then waited ten minutes before she snuck back out to go to Jake's place.

Spike and Angel drove Cordelia to her hotel room. They didn't talk much as they both knew that Spike was not happy about the tattoo. Cordelia figured she would leave that conversation with Angel to sort out. Once they dropped off Cordelia they headed back to Spike's crypt still in silence. Angel could feel the fear and pain radiating off of Spike. Angel knew tonight was going to be a night where he had to be Angel and leave Angelus behind. Spike needed love and tenderness tonight he didn't need sex and more heartache. Angel planned on making sure Spike was relaxed and knew he was cared for. Once they arrived at the crypt they both got out and headed inside.

"Do you want some blood?" Angel asked as he went over to the fridge.

"Oh shit I forgot I don't have any." Spike said as he rubbed his hands over his face.

"I brought a few packages with me. We can pick some more up tomorrow." Angel said as he grabbed two packages and put them in mugs before he put them in the microwave.

"Ya that's not going to be that easy anymore." Spike said sadly and Angel could hear the tired frustration in his voice.

"Why not?" Angel asked with concern.

"It's a long story." Spike said with exhaustion.

The microwave beeped and Angel took out the mugs of blood. He handed one to Spike as he took the other.

"Let's take these downstairs." Angel said as he moved around the counter so he could go down the ladder.

Spike followed behind him and they went over to the bed. Angel took off his jacket and removed his shoes before he sat down on the bed with his back against the headboard.

"Look Angel, I know you came all this way and everything, but I am not in the mood for sex tonight. I know I should be with you coming down here, but I'm just." Spike started, but Angel cut him off.

"Exhausted, upset, frustrated, hurt, worried and scared. I know Will. I came here to see you and be here with you. I didn't come here for a booty call. I know what you are feeling Will. I've felt it all night long, all week long. You're exhausted with worry and stress. I'm here for you my sweet Childe. Come sit down with me and talk to me it'll help." Angel said gently.

Spike removed his jacket and his boots before he got onto the bed and sat facing Angel with his mug in his hands.

"Talk to me Will. Tell me what happened Sunday when you got back." Angel said gently.

Spike let out a sigh before he spoke.

"I brought Niblet home and then went to the Magic Shop to see if Glinda was there. They all were except for Buffy who was at the house. I sensed her inside, but I didn't think she would yell at the Niblet. I should have figured it, but I just kept thinking I had to get away from there before she sensed me. It's pathetic." Spike said sadly.

"She's beaten you twice and raped you Will. That's not pathetic. You have every right to not want to be around her. The last thing you are, is pathetic my Childe." Angel said comfortingly.

"It doesn't feel that way." Spike said sadly.

"I know it doesn't. But Will you are not pathetic. You are brave and strong. You have every right to be upset with her and what she has done to you. Despite all of that you are still helping Dawn and paying her bills. You have nothing to be ashamed of. What happened at the Magic Shop?" Angel asked patiently before he took a drink of blood.

Spike took a drink as well before he answered. "Glinda was understanding like I thought she would be. She didn't even realise that there was no food in the house. Red was just oblivious and assumed Buffy was handling everything. The Whelp got defensive. He said I was lying just to get Buffy's attention. He was pissed that Dawn was with me this weekend, but he didn't even bother to ask where she was going to be while no one was home with her. Glinda said she would keep a better eye on her and she was going to talk to her. I think she did already. I went to work afterwards. I didn't get back until just after five in the morning. I was only a sleep for a couple of hours when she came storming in here. She threw a candle on me to wake me up. Thankfully I wasn't lit. She was pissed, but that eerie calm pissed. She told me about the deal."

"And what was that specifically?" Angel asked gently.

Spike let out a sigh before he spoke. "I get the Niblet for eight hours a week. I have to pay two grand a week plus what other bills she might acquire outside of her normal monthly bills that I pay. I also have to be her play toy basically until she gets bored and just dusts me I guess." Spike said sadly.

"Will." Angel started, but Spike cut him off.

"I didn't want to. I told her to fuck off. But that's when she said she would have a spell put up so I couldn't leave here and she would make it so I couldn't see Niblet or go near her. The worst part is if I hadn't agreed I know I would have eventually. Because I can't just die here and leave the Niblet all alone. If I don't pay the bills she'll never have food in the house, she'll end up on the street or living with that boyfriend of hers. Her life will be ruined and she'll be nothing. She doesn't deserve that. I don't have a choice right now. And now she's made it impossible for me to get blood. She went to the butchers and Willy's the only two places in town to get blood from and she's got them terrified to sell me any. I already tried late Tuesday night when I took a quick break from work. They won't budge because I can't hurt them and she can. Niblet brought some over Tuesday night before we went out to dinner, that's the only reason I had some this morning when I finally got finished work. I'm just I'm so tired and I shouldn't be I slept all morning. I had just been woken up by Buffy pouring holy water on me. I shouldn't be tired still." Spike said as he put his empty mug on the side table.

"You're worn out and stressed out Will, of course you're tired. Do me a favor take your clothes off and get in bed." Angel said as he got off the bed.

"Why?" Spike asked slightly unsure, but still removing his clothing.

"Trust me." Angel said gently.

Angel went and lit the candles that were in the room. They didn't need them to see, but Angel had always liked candles and Spike had a love for them as well. With the candles lit Angel grabbed the oil that he had seen and he went back over where Spike was sitting under the covers. Angel sat down on the edge of the bed to look at the burns on Spike's chest. They weren't too bad and it would heal with some blood.

"Lay flat on your stomach for me." Angel said calmly.

"Angle." Spike started, but Angel knew what he was going to say.

"Nothing sexual is going to happen. I promise my sweet Childe." Angel said gently.

Angel could see and feel the hesitation in Spike and that made him worry even more that something more was going on with him that he was hiding. Spike slowly turned over onto his stomach and Angel straddled his thighs. He opened the oil and poured some into his hands before he started to massage Spike's back and shoulders. Angel couldn't believe how tense Spike was. He had never been tense in his entire existence, for that Angel was sure of. For Spike to be so tense and exhausted from just living was depressing to Angel. Spike used to have so much light and life in his eyes. All Angel had seen in Spike's eyes over the last month was pain, sadness and misery. Spike had a good front on, but Angel could easily see through it. He knew that Spike's confidence was taking a hit. He was starting to seriously believe what the others were saying about him. He was seriously starting to believe he was nothing more than a soulless, evil monster and he deserved everything that had been done to him. It broke Angel's heart.

Spike moaned before he spoke. "That feels good Sire."

"I thought you could use some love and care. You're tense my sweet Childe, you've never been tense before. I hate that you are in this position. I wish you would come back with me, but I can understand why you won't. It's very selfless why you stay and honorable Will."

"You know what the worst part is in all of this?" Spike asked sadly.

"What's that?" Angel asked gently as he continued to massage Spike's back.

"How everyone has forgotten about this fifteen year old being stuck in the middle. She notices it too. It's not like she's oblivious to them not being around or even caring enough to check in on her. Four human adults plus Buffy and yet none of them even knew she was alone all the time or had no food. How do you go five months without even noticing that there's no food? For eleven months now I have been taking care of her. Doing everything I can to make sure the bills are paid and she is taken care of. Eleven months and now she's running with this guy she's only known for a month and he's buying her tattoos and she's having sex with him and spending the night at his place. And I can't do a damn thing about it, because what she desperately needs I can't give her." Spike said sadly.

"She needs good people in her life, people that understand and Buffy and her friends don't seem to be interested in being those people. My people would take her in, in a heartbeat. They have all been asking me and Cordy all week if we had heard anything about her. They're all worried and they've only known her for a weekend. It's so clear she is in pain and I'm worried just like you are about this boyfriend being able to see that and manipulate her. I don't like him and it has nothing to do with the age gap or her dating. It doesn't feel right." Angel agreed.

"She's so confused and that is clear to anyone. You don't have to be a vampire to see it. Liam she feels like she should have died that day and not Buffy. She feels that if she had died then Buffy would be alive and fine and not how she is. She blames herself for all of it happening. She doesn't even see the point in being in school or doing anything because she wasn't supposed to exist. She found out all of her memories, her whole life is nothing but a lie and now she doesn't even know who she is. She's confused and hurt and it's that pain and confusion that will lead her down the wrong path so quickly and I'm terrified that she won't even realise that she's down the wrong path before it becomes too late. She wished she had died Liam, that's not a pain you can just kiss away." Spike said with complete hurt in her voice.

Angel grabbed the towel that was on the floor and wiped his hands off before he wiped off any remaining oil on Spike's back. He then got up and took his clothes off before he got under the covers and pulled Spike into his arms and Spike curled up against Angel's chest. Angel wrapped his arms around Spike before he spoke.

"I'm so sorry Will. I wish I could say something that would make it better. I wish I could take you both away from all of this."

"I want to leave this town so bloody badly. Take her away from all of this shit. She's lying to me. She's never lied to me before and now she is. I know she spent the night with him on Sunday too. She told me she was at Janice's but I know she was lying. She also lied about not doing drugs. I asked her and she said no, but it was so obvious she was lying about it. I don't know what to do with her. What if Buffy does get worse Liam then what? Buffy will never agree to letting Dawn leave and live somewhere else and I can't just take her away Buffy would find me and kill me or worse. So what do I do?" Spike asked with a complete lost tone in his voice.

"I don't know either Will I wish I did. I'll look into it and see if there is something we could do. Buffy doesn't even feel the same. I'll have Wes look into the spell and see if he can figure out what happened, but I don't think she came back whole. Did you know Riley was back?"

"Ya I knew he was back. I didn't know he was living here. The Initiative must have started up again somewhere around here. Just what I need to worry about again."

"You need to be careful Will I don't like him showing up all of a sudden. With Buffy hanging around him again there's no telling what could happen. I know they broke up because he was still working for the Government, but still she shouldn't be around him. It's too dangerous."

"That's not why they broke up. They broke up because I found him in a bite house getting off on one of the vamps that was biting him. He became addicted to it and I showed Buffy it while he was there getting bit."

"Stupid human. He could have been turned and killed at any given moment. Those vamps get high off the blood themselves and it's all too easy for them to take too much or get carried away. He could have put Buffy and all her friends in danger, not to mention Dawn. She would have trusted him and not knowing any better. Were you there when Buffy walked in on it?"

"Yup he knew I showed her."

"So he would be blaming you for their break-up. I don't like this. This situation down here for you is getting worse."

"I can handle it."

"Ya but the same question still stands, what are you going to do when it becomes too much? I'm not going to leave you here to die when I could have stopped it. I know you stay for Dawn, but I will not leave you here to die my Childe." Angel said with dominance to his voice.

"I know and I'm not looking to die. If I die then the Niblet is stuck here all alone. I'm not going to do that to her, I'm just not leaving until I have no choice." Spike said with an exhausted voice.

"Tomorrow I will try and sort of this blood problem with Willy. I can also get you some before I leave. I thought I would leave Sunday night."

"So I get you tomorrow too eh? Good."

"Get some sleep my Childe. I'll keep you safe." Angel said softly as he kissed the top of Spike's head and brought the covers up higher to keep Spike warm.

Spike closed his eyes and curled into Angel. When he felt Angel start to rub his thumb against the back of his neck he was out within minutes.

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It was Saturday night and Dawn was just getting back home after going to dinner with Spike, Angel and Cordelia. They had spent the majority of the day together and Dawn had loved it. She got to learn some fighting moves and self- defense techniques. She also got to go to dinner with them and just had a chance to have a good time. Now she was coming home and once again no one else was here. Dawn was sick of it, but tonight she was going to a special party with Jake and she had bought some sexy lingerie to wear to it. She went and took a quick shower and made sure she was clean shaven everywhere before she got out. She then went into her room and took out the special cocaine she had been given on Tuesday. She hadn't taken any yet and she figured since she was going to a sex party tonight would be the perfect time to use it. She took a big line of it before she went over and put on some make-up. She had picked out a guarder belt that was black, she picked out a black lace bra that would just cover her nipples. She then put on a black skirt that was so short it only just barely covered her crotch and her ass cheeks were hanging out over top of the guarder belt that had the straps hanging down from it. She then put on her choker that Jake got for her and thigh high heeled boots. She didn't bother with a jacket as Jake was going to be here in a few minutes to pick her up. Once dressed she went downstairs and was happy to see Jake pull up out front. She grabbed her purse, but left all money here as she didn't want to have to worry about someone stealing it. She went outside and locked the door before going over to the car. She saw Jake give her a huge smile as he saw her. Dawn did a turn to him before she got into the car. As she sat down the skirt moved up to reveal her bare crotch.

"Do you like baby?" Dawn asked with a smile.

"You look so sexy baby. They are going to love you." Jake said as he moved his right hand over to run his finger between her folds. "You're already wet baby." Jake said as he continued to finger her.

"I took that special coke not too long ago. I'm feeling so good right now so you better drive fast because I don't think I can wait for very long." Dawn moaned as she moved her hips to make Jake's finger go even deeper into her.

"I'll get us there in fifteen minutes baby." Jake said as he moved his hand away.

Jake put his car into drive and took off at a fast speed. Dawn giggled at Jake and she watched the clock. Sure enough fifteen minutes later they were pulling up to Mike's house and parking the car. Dawn took her seatbelt off and she was already undoing Jake's pants.

"Can't wait any longer baby?" Jake asked with a smirk as he knew the strength behind Dov's drug.

"I need you inside of me right now." Dawn said as she straddled Jake's lap and put him inside of her.

Dawn let out a loud moan and she immediately started to move up and down at a fast rate. Jake ran his hands over Dawn's chest and ass and he helped her get him even deeper inside of her.

"Fuck baby you're gonna go in there with my cum going down your legs." Jake moaned.

"Oh fuck ya baby cum deep inside of me."

"Ya you want my cum deep inside you. You want it going down your legs so they all know you just got fucked by me. I'm gonna fuck you in front of everyone tonight. I'm gonna fuck your tight ass while you eat some bitch out right in front of everyone. And you'll moan like the real dirty girl you are eh baby?"

"Oh fuck ya baby."

"You want that baby?"

"Oh ya I want it."

"Tell me what you want. Tell me what a dirty girl like you wants."

"I want you to fuck my ass in front everyone. I want to be the focus of everyone's attention. I want to be fucked so much tonight I won't be able to walk for a week."

"Your wish is my command baby. You'll be what everyone talks about tonight. No one is going to ignore you or forget about you. They are all going to want you. This is where a dirty girl like you belongs. You belong with me in this world. I'm close baby cum around my cock with me. I love watching you cum. I love you my dirty girl. You'll never be alone ever again, not as long as I love you." Jake said as he whispered into Dawn's ear.

"Oh I love you too. Oh fuck Jake." Dawn said as she cam hard and Jake cam deep inside of her with her.

Jake kissed Dawn for a few minutes before Dawn pulled back.

"Let's go inside and make you the star of the party baby. I promise you baby as long as you are with me no one will ever ignore you like your own family has. I love you baby and I'll always take care of you." Jake said smoothly.

"I love you too. Let's go have some fun." Dawn said with a smile.

She got off Jake and they both got out of the car and headed inside for the night.


	7. Giving Up

_**Warnings: Sex, Violence, Bad language, Drug use and Conversation about Abortions.**_

_**A/N: For the record before I get yelled at by anyone, I do not have an opinion on abortions one way or the other. I think it's completely dependent on the situation and the person. I'm taking a risk here of having people yell at me or give me their opinions I know, but it needed to be in for the story to really get pushed to the right level I need it to be in. So please be open minded and if you don't want to read about the discussion of it then skip it.**_

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Giving Up

It had been three weeks since Spike had been able to see Angel. He had wanted to go and see Angel every other weekend, but he hadn't been able to this month so far. He had been working a lot to pay for everything including anything extra that Buffy had come up with. What she was doing with the money he had no idea. He had thought about asking her, but he didn't see the point as he knew she would never tell him. He did know in the past three weeks he had paid her six grand to see Dawn twice a week and another five grand for whatever the hell she was doing with it. Spike also had a nine thousand dollar debt he was working on paying off plus the four grand a month for the mortgage, utilities, cable, phone, internet and food. So to say that Spike was exhausted was an understatement. He couldn't ever remember being this tired before in his entire existence. He also hadn't had any blood in a week because he hadn't been able to get any blood in the next city over. The only time he could get blood was with Dawn and he hadn't seen her last week as she had canceled on him both times. Spike was upset about it and he had thought about not giving Buffy the money for this week as he didn't get to see Dawn last week, but he figured it wouldn't go over well.

Angel wasn't too happy that Spike was working so much. He had wanted to come down and see him last weekend, but Spike wasn't able to do it. He had to work to pay for everything plus he had to work to save up some extra money just in case Buffy came back with some random need for money. He also wanted some extra for a rainy day that he could use to invest with. He had just gotten off work thirty minutes ago and he had gone to the bank to put his money into from the night. Spike had learnt the hard way two weeks ago about keeping money in his stash spot. He had come home to find that Buffy had stolen his money. Now every night he went and put it into his bank account so he wouldn't lose it. He was hoping that if Buffy didn't surprise anything on him then this week he could use some money to invest in a few stocks that were doing well and he could make some extra money and not have to work so much. He had been working for four days straight all day and night before taking the day shift off and going back that night. Without a steady resource of blood though he was more exhausted and in pain. He didn't heal as quickly and that was making the job even harder than it originally was. He also had started to get this cough that if he wasn't already dead he would assume he was sick, but vampires don't get sick so he didn't know what it was from. Spike was hoping he just needed some solid sleep and he would be okay.

Spike arrived at his place and he walked in to find it destroyed. His t.v. was smashed up into nothing, his fridge was in a similar state as was his microwave. The wires he had used for electricity for his fridge and microwave was sliced beyond repair and Spike knew he would never be able to get it fixed or have power here again. His chair and couch was slashed up and destroyed. Between it all there was Buffy leaning against the sarcophagus with her arms crossed across her chest clearly pissed off, still holding the knife she used to slash everything up.

"I hope the downstairs doesn't look like this." Spike said clearly pissed off.

"Why would I destroy downstairs? I'm not getting fucked on the floor."

"Right it's all about sex and money with you. It never used to be."

"You want to talk about sex and money Spike. Let's talk about the fact that you were supposed to pay me yesterday morning, but you weren't there. That's going to cost you."

"I was at work making money to pay your bills so the Niblet doesn't end up starved and homeless. You should be thanking me not making my life harder."

"I would never thank an evil, soulless thing that is nothing more than some disgusting whore that lets demons fuck him. Did you actually think I didn't know what you were doing? Riley told me all about it. You're out getting fucked by demons and humans then you can damn well be here so I can get my rocks off too. You're lucky I only charge you what I charge you to see Dawn when I could have charged you a hell of a lot more. Now you're going to be a good little bitch and get downstairs and take your punishment and if you're good I'll let you have that blood package that I picked up for you." Buffy said in a deadly tone and Spike couldn't help, but wonder just where the hell had his sweet Slayer had gone to.

The problem was it was sunlight out now, he could feel it. He couldn't run or he would be dust and if he fought against Buffy she would win and make it worse. He was too tired and weak from not sleeping or feeding all week that he didn't even know if he could last long against her. Spike figured it would be better to play along and just hope she would get bored and leave him alone to sleep soon. Spike just walked passed Buffy and headed downstairs. He dropped down without using the ladder and he walked in and saw that there were chains hanging from the ceiling and chains attached to the floor. Spike was now worried about what was going to happen. He turned around to see Buffy. Before he was able to say anything Riley came up behind him and injected him with something into his neck. Spike tried to fight him off but the chip activated and sent a blinding pain into his mind. Spike didn't know what the drug was but he could feel himself getting weaker. He was on the floor chained up before his mind could even register what had happened. Buffy went over to Spike and using the knife she cut off his clothing and removed his boots. Leaving him chained up on the floor unable to get up naked.

"Riley has been working on some interesting new drugs that the Initiative are exploring. This one increases the level of pain a demon is put through. He's also been working on some new chips." Buffy said as she moved around to stand with Riley.

"Behaviour modification chips to make demons basically slaves. They won't do anything unless given an order to by the master we program into the chip. It's worked out pretty well so far in the testing field." Riley explained.

"So you see Spike if you don't start playing along. I'm going to have Riley stick a new chip in your head to make you my slave, my personal bitch. Now seeing as you can't seem to grasp the concept of pleasuring me Riley here is going to show you how it's done." Buffy said with a smirk.

Riley grabbed Buffy and gave her a heated kiss while he started to take her clothes off. Buffy removed Riley's clothes and she let out a moan when he rubbed her nipple. Riley moved to kiss Buffy's neck while he looked at Spike and spoke.

"See Spike you can't make her feel like I can, because you are nothing but some disgusting, worthless thing."

Buffy kissed Riley's neck and worked her way down. She got down on her knees and looked over at Spike with a smirk.

"I would never do this with you, but unlike you I care about Riley. I want him to feel good." Buffy said before she licked Riley's hard shaft and he moaned and put his hand through her hair.

Buffy took Riley into her mouth right there at eye level with Spike and Spike looked away. It wasn't that seeing Buffy with Riley hurt, it was more the words that bothered him and the situation that he was in.

"Don't look away. That's your only warning whore. Watch as the woman you claim to love sucks me off. She loved me and she will never love you. She could never love a disgusting whore like you no one could." Riley said with seething anger.

Spike turned his head back to watch and he did his best to ignore everything. He had to block all of this out of his emotions and bond with Angel, because he wouldn't have been able to do anything about this. He would never hurt Buffy and he couldn't hurt Riley with his soul. Spike was on his own with this and there was nothing he could do about it. After five minutes he heard Riley moan as he came and Spike was hoping it would be over, but he knew it wouldn't be. He watched as they went over to his bed, the bed he would have to sleep in with their scent on his sheets and Spike didn't have any choice but to watch as they had sex on his bed. After an hour it was over and Spike was hoping they would leave, but he knew that wouldn't be true, because then there wouldn't have been a point in giving him that new drug. They both got dressed and Riley spoke as he did.

"Did you enjoy the show whore? Maybe you learnt a thing or two for your clients." Riley said with a laugh.

"Now it's time for your punishment." Buffy said with a smile on her face that made Spike's skin crawl.

Buffy removed a metal rosary from her pocket with a smile.

"This is a special gift from me to you. Riley had a witch that the Initiative works with to put a spell on it. Once this is on you, you won't be able to take it off unless the spell is reversed. And when that happens would depend on how well you behave from now on." Buffy said as she went over to Spike and put it around his neck. It hung low enough that the metal cross touched the middle of his chest and his skin instantly started to burn with the rosary all around his neck and down to the metal cross.

The pain was a lot more intense than it had ever been and Spike knew it was from the drug. He didn't know how long the drug would be in his system for and he was hoping it would run out quickly, but without enough blood to dilute the drug he was looking at a while before it would be out. Spike let out a hiss of pain as his skin burned from the rosary.

"That pain is nothing for what you are in for whore." Riley said as he went behind Spike and he grabbed a small black bag that he had brought with him.

"I'm not one for torture, but Riley really loves it now. I'll just go and watch over here." Buffy said with a smile as she sat down in the chair.

Riley pulled out a knife with a smile on his face. He bent down and whispered into Spike's ear.

"I'm really going to enjoy this."

Riley then took the knife and stabbed Spike into the left side. His skin started to burn as he quickly realised that the knife had been blessed.

"All of the weapons I have, have all been blessed. You're in for a real treat whore." Riley said as he moved the blade around inside of Spike to cause even more damage to him before he pulled it out slowly allowing his skin and insides to burn even more.

Riley then proceeded to stab Spike two more times to his left, four times to his right, five to his back and once to each leg before he put the knife away. He picked up a whip next and he proceeded to whip Spike twenty times to his back and then another twenty times to his front, hitting his dick as often as he could. Spike was shaking from the pain that his body was in and he could only hope that it would end soon. The whole time Riley and Buffy both called his disgusting, a whore, filthy, worthless, monster and a thing. Somewhere between the stabbing and the whipping Spike had believed them. It was that realisation that had caused him his true pain. The realisation that Angel could never love him. That he would never want him once he found out what had been going on, Spike was alone in this. And that pain of being with Angel just waiting for when he would find out the truth and hate him made him hurt even more. He couldn't be around Angel anymore, not without it hurting too much. He had to stay away from Angel and just focus on staying alive and supporting Dawn. He didn't deserve Angel, he didn't deserve their blood line and he was nothing, but a disgrace to their family line. If he saw Angel he would kill him because of the disgrace he had made to their family name and if he died then Dawn would be alone. He couldn't do that to her, he had to live so she could have the chance to have a good life. He had to hold on until she was eighteen and could live on her own legally and has graduated high school. He just had to hold on long enough for her. Angel would forget about him again like he had a once already.

"You are nothing but a dirty, disgusting, worthless whore. Say it." Buffy said in a deadly tone as she stood up and walked over to Spike.

"I'm nothing but a dirty, disgusting, worthless whore." Spike said with pure pain and hurt in his voice.

"Good whore. Now you are going to stay like this until I come back just before sunset. You will then go to work and you will be there for the next three days straight before you can take the morning off and then you go back to work. You are going to pay me four grand a week now plus my other bills. If I find out you took off time when you weren't supposed to then you will be punished. Do you understand whore?" Buffy said deadly.

"Yes."

Buffy punched Spike across the face.

"Yes Master. Say it." Buffy ordered.

"Yes Master." Spike said with a broken tone.

"That is what you will call me and Riley from now on. I'll be back before sunset. You better hope I have calmed down by then or you won't be getting any blood." Buffy said.

"I'll be seeing you tomorrow for our special time together whore." Riley said before him and Buffy turned to leave.

Spike waited until he heard the door close before he hung his head and let the tears fall. He was in so much pain the last thing he wanted was to be left here chained up. He just wanted to curl up and try to sleep the pain away. Now here he was stuck and all alone. For the rest of his existence he would be alone and miserable.

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Dawn was over at Janice's working on their homework at least that was what she had told Tara what she was doing over here. They were just going to hang out tonight for a little while before she headed over to Jake's for the night. She had been spending a lot of her time over there in the past three weeks. Buffy had been even more absent from the house now that Riley was back and Willow and Tara had tried to be around more, but their lives got busy and they hadn't been around much either. At least it made it easy for Dawn to sneak out at night to go over to Jake's. Jake had been teaching her how to drive and she had gotten very good now. She had drove Jake's car alone and he was good about it. He truly did love her and Dawn found herself never wanting to leave.

"Fuck I'm sick of my period already and it just started. It sucks not being able to fuck Chris for a week. How did Jake handle your week off two weeks ago? Chris gets a little pissy about it, but he just gets lots of head so it makes him happy." Janice ranted on.

"Oh my god, my period." Dawn said with horror as she just realised something.

"What about it?" Janice asked with a shrug.

"I didn't get it. Janice, I didn't get it. I didn't even think about it, I completely forget, but I'm two weeks late." Dawn said as she started to panic.

"Ok calm down. That doesn't have to mean anything. You've been doing a shit load of coke every night for like over a month now. It could be the coke making you miss your period. I've heard that has happened to a few of the girls we've been around at parties." Janice said calmly.

"But what if it's not? How the hell do I know?" Dawn asked still panicked.

"Just calm down I have a home pregnancy test you can take." Janice said as she got up off her bed and headed into the bathroom. They were alone as Janice's mom was at work for the night so they didn't have to worry about someone interrupting them.

"Why do you even have one?" Dawn asked.

"A few months ago I was wicked late, but it just turned out that my new birth control had made me miss it. I got freaked and bought a test and it came up negative. I got the most accurate one that even tells you how many weeks you are and shit. If this thing comes up negative then I knew it wouldn't be a false one." Janice said as she came back in with the test. "Look, just go pee on the stick and we'll know almost right away if you are." Janice said as she handed Dawn the test.

Dawn took the test and headed into the bathroom. She was freaking out now. She never even realised that she hadn't gotten her period this month. She just had been so busy with Jake and learning how to drive and going to school that she forgot about it. She was fifteen she didn't want to be pregnant. She didn't want to get fat and have a baby. She wouldn't be able to afford the baby or even be able to raise it. She didn't want to, but at the same time she couldn't help but think that her baby would love her. Her baby would need her and want her. It would also be her and Jake's baby and he always said he would take care of her. If she was pregnant he would take care of her and their baby Dawn was sure of that. She could make it work she was sure she could figure it out. Dawn peed on the stick and then stood there just starring at the thing waiting to see what it would say. After a minute she felt her stomach go into her throat as the test came back positive and her being five to six weeks pregnant. That meant she had been pregnant this whole time while she had done drugs. Dawn knew that was bad, it was bad all around. She took the test and went back into Janice's room. All Janice needed to see was Dawn's face and she knew what the test had come back as.

"Oh no sweetie, you cannot have a baby." Janice said gently.

"Jake loves me, he said he would always take care of me. Maybe I could do this, if we did it together." Dawn said trying to believe that she could do this, that she wanted it.

"You're fifteen Dawn and he's nineteen having the time of your lives, the last thing you need is a baby. Do you want to be the girl in school pregnant? You couldn't party anymore, you couldn't do anything fun. All you will do is get fat and have to stay at home and be a mom. Look, Jake loves you, but that doesn't mean he wants to be settled down with a baby at his age and you shouldn't be either."

"I know, but what am I going to do? I don't really want to be that girl that gets knocked up and I don't want to stop partying I like how I feel right now. I want to travel and see the world I don't want to be stuck at home with a baby." Dawn said as she sat down in the chair.

"So go to the clinic and get it taken care of." Janice said.

"How I'm underage."

"You have your fake ID. Ask Jake if you could borrow his car for the day and drive to L.A go in and get it taken care of that day and then drive back. It only takes an hour to have an abortion and then you could do some shopping."

"What I just walk in?"

"Yup that's how it works here in California you can go into a free clinic and they will take care of it for you no questions asked. I'll go with you if you want."

"I could still travel; go to college somewhere in Europe. I guess I could miss school tomorrow and just go and have it taken care of. I'm only five or six weeks so it's not like I can't or anything. I could go shopping afterwards, but I have to tell Jake. I can't do this without him knowing that's not right it's his baby too."

"So tell him tonight, I could go with you."

"You miss anymore school and you'll be suspended and then grounded forever. I'll be fine. I've wanted to go do some shopping in L.A anyways so this will be a great time to go. I'll tell Jake tonight when I see him."

"Don't worry I won't tell anyone. I thought you were on the pill?"

"No I'm not and we don't use condoms."

"Maybe you should start."

"Ya, but when you are high and in the mood it's hard to stop to check to see if someone has a rubber." Dawn said with a shrug.

"So true."

There was a car horn from out front and they both smiled as it was probably Jake for Dawn. Dawn had worn her black skinny jeans with her high tops and a crop top tonight. Jake had told her to dress sensible for something tonight so Dawn figured it would work. She grabbed her jacket and they headed out front. They got outside and saw that Jake was leaning against a black mustang convertible that had a huge pink bow on the hood of the car. Both Janice and Dawn smiled at seeing it and Jake. Jake had the keys in his hand and he tossed them to Dawn as he spoke.

"Hey baby. I got you something." Jake said with a smile.

"You got me a car?" Dawn asked shocked.

"I told you we would get you one. I saw this and I knew you would love it. It's all bought and paid for and it's registered in your name. She's all yours now baby." Jake said as he went over to Dawn and kissed her.

Dawn kissed him back with as much passion as she could muster. She couldn't believe Jake had bought her a car, a brand new expensive car. He had given her a ten thousand dollar necklace and now a car.

"I love you so freaking much right now." Dawn said with a huge smile.

"I love you too baby. I told you only the best for my girl."

"Can we take it for a spin?" Dawn asked with a smile.

"Of course we can. Hop that sexy ass of yours in it and let's take it for a spin."

"See you later." Dawn said with Janice with a smile.

"Let me know how it goes eh?" Janice said.

"Ya definitely sure now." Dawn said with a smile.

"Have fun." Janice said with a smile.

Dawn got into the driver's seat while Jake hopped into the passenger seat. Dawn took off and she couldn't believe how amazing it felt to be driving this car.

"What are you sure about?" Jake asked after they pulled away.

"Kinda a serious conversation, but the quick version is that I just found out I'm pregnant." Dawn said slightly unsure and awkward. This wasn't how she wanted to have this conversation, but it was better to do it now before she got too attached to this car if Jake decided he didn't love her anymore and left.

"Fuck, um alright. What decision are you sure of then?"

"I know what I want to do, but with you being the father I wanted to at least let you know."

"How do you know I'm the father? No offense baby but we've done some wild things together where I'm not the only one cumming in that sweet pussy of yours." Jake said calmly.

"I'm six weeks so that would make it yours. I don't know about you, but I'm nowhere near ready to be a mom. I'm fifteen for fuck sakes."

"Ya not really a kid person, maybe one day but that's not this day."

"I figured and that's good that we're on the same page. I'm gonna go into L.A tomorrow and have it taken care of. I just wanted to let you know it would have been wrong to go behind your back."

"I appreciate that baby I really do. So many girls would have kept it hidden from their man. That's good on you baby. Do you want me to be there?"

"No it'll be fine. I got this. I'll take my new shinny car tomorrow and get it done. Janice says it'll only take an hour and then I'm gonna do some shopping therapy."

"Well you will have lots of money for it. We're going in on a heist tonight, another jewellery store and you get to come in with us."

"Awesome. What's the take?"

"About the same as last time, but there's only going to be four of us this time and you will get a higher share than last time. You'll get fifteen grand this time around baby."

"Holy fuck are you serious?"

"I am."

"Ok so what are you doing this weekend?"

"Being with you is all I got planned. Why do you have something in mind?"

"Ya weekend vacation. Can we get like one of those fancy hotel rooms that are on the beach or something in L.A?"

"We can do whatever you want baby. Nice fancy hotel room on the beach. We can have a midnight swim and fuck right on the sand. Jacuzzi in the room, room service. You name it baby. We can leave Friday afternoon so we can be there for check in and then the weekend is yours. There are some great restaurants that are high end. I'll treat you like a queen."

"Sounds perfect to me."

"I'll find us the perfect room and book it for us."

"You're amazing. So where are we meeting the guys?"

"Back at mine and then we'll take my car and head out."

"Same buyer?"

"Yup. He moves it quickly."

"Does he only do jewellery?"

"No he does electronics, but I hate stealing them, too much work with lifting and finding a place to store them. Jewellery is easier as it fits into a bag. He also sells large amounts of drugs all over Cali."

"Wow, good for him."

"He's great to have around. He finds us the right spot and we go in and get the jewellery. He's got his eyes on ten other places we could hit in the next month or so. We'll go to other cities to keep the heat off of us. Tonight we're going to another city an hour from here. You could be looking at a hundred grand baby, if everything goes right within the next month roughly."

"Oh fuck I love you. See having a baby so not a good time."

"I couldn't agree more baby."

Dawn drove the rest of the way to Jake's house before they got out and switched over to his car. Dawn didn't care that they were stealing from jewellery stores, she wanted the cash and she was loving this life. She wasn't going to let something like a baby stop her. She wasn't thinking straight, but she just didn't care anymore. She gave up caring a long time ago and now she was going to do whatever she wanted no matter what.

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Angel was sitting in his office in the dark with his eyes closed. He had been trying to get through on his bond with Spike for the past three hours ever since he felt Spike completely cutting off the bond. Angel refused to believe that it meant anything more than he was just tired and didn't have the strength to keep it up. Or he was doing something that he didn't want Angel to catch wind of what he was doing through the bond. It wouldn't be the first time Angle had felt Spike blocking the bond from him. He had done it ever since they had created the family bond between them. He had never done this before though. He had never completely cut him off and Angel found himself extremely worried that something was going on with him. The problem was it was daylight and he couldn't leave yet. He had texted and called numerous times, but Spike didn't answer.

In the past three weeks they hadn't been able to see each other, because Spike was constantly working or Angel had to stay because the demon world was acting up again. He couldn't leave while the city was running on high risk and Spike had understood that, but it didn't make Angel feel any better. He didn't like that Spike was working so much and he didn't like that Spike wouldn't tell him what he was doing for any of these jobs. Angel was worried that Spike was trying to hide something from him. Trying to hide just how dangerous these jobs really were or what he was having to do for them. Angel knew that too many demons and humans would pay to have sex with a vampire or to torture them. Angel didn't even want to think about that happening to Spike. He didn't even want to think that Spike would ever be forced to do that, would be so desperate to do that. Angel didn't have a problem with demons or vampires going down that route, but this wasn't just any demon or vampire this was Spike. His Childe, his sweet William who was too good to be at that level. Angel refused to think about it as he knew that Spike wouldn't do that. He was disgusted by those brothels and he thought it was the lowest of the lows anyone could ever go to. Spike would be far too proud to ever reach that level.

The knock at the door brought Angel out of his thoughts. He looked up and saw Wesley coming into the room. He turned on the lights as he spoke.

"Why are you sitting here in the dark?" Wesley asked with concern.

"I was trying to concentrate on Spike. He's cut me off from the bond; he has for three hours now. He won't answer my calls or texts." Angel said with frustration and concern.

Wesley closed the door and went over to stand by Angels' desk.

"He's done that before though you've said."

"He's blocked me before. I could still feel him there, but not what he was feeling or thinking. He's completely cut me off right now."

"I'm sure it's nothing to be worried about. He's probably sleeping or trying to sort something out and doesn't want you to feel anything from it." Wesley said trying to sound comforting.

"I'll see, but if he isn't back by dark I'm going to check. I don't want to leave him there to find out he's being hurt by Buffy or someone else."

"Understandable. I was able to do some research on that spell that Willow did and it has me concerned."

"What did you find out?"

"The spell was very dangerous for her to ever be doing let alone at her level that she was in. Willow is indeed very powerful, but she has not mastered her power yet. I'm glad she has stopped, but it should never have come down to that. I have not contacted Giles yet as I wanted to see what you thought, but there is a high chance that something went wrong when Buffy crossed back over."

"Wrong how?"

"The circle that they all formed was to contain the magic and the spell. The circle represented life and how it is never ended as long as the circle is not broken. It's very symbolic in magic and with any spell the circle cannot be broken or the spell does not work properly. In theory Buffy should never have been resurrected once the circle was broken, but I suspect that with the level of power Willow has inside of her the circle was able to sustain even after being broken for some time. It wasn't until the urn was destroyed by the motorcycle did the spell falter."

"Ok but she's alive she came back so did this falter change her mentally somehow?" Angel asked trying to understand.

"There's really no telling what it could have changed unless we do a spell on her to find out. I would normally say she might not have a soul, but Spike and you would have noticed that right away and she's not out killing humans or hurting her friends."

"No she has a soul I smelt it on her."

"It's possible that since the spell was interrupted that part of her morals were changed as a result. Honestly, anything is possible right now and that gives me some concern. She could be suffering from PTSD and it's extreme enough to change her from being brought back. She remembers being in Heaven that would be traumatic, but I'm just not sure at this point in time."

"And you are thinking about calling Giles and seeing if he'll research it more or come down?"

"I am, but that could also cause more problems. If Giles tells Buffy that you had me look into it she could take it out on Spike, she could rebel more. Then we run into the possibility that he doesn't believe me."

"Do as much research as you can and we'll hold off on calling Giles just yet. Let's see if she calms down or changes more. It's only been six months since she has been back, almost seven. Maybe she will realise what she has been doing and change."

"Maybe or she could get worse. I'll do more research and consult a witch that would have more knowledge on this than me. We'll call Giles as a last resort."

"Thanks for doing this Wes."

"It's no problem. I don't like what she has been doing to Spike any more than you do. Gunn and Cordelia are just waiting for the day that you drag Spike here to live. They don't like her or the way she is treating Spike or Dawn. Plus the last thing this world needs is another Faith, who I have heard is doing very well in prison. It seems to have been enough to straighten her out. She could have chosen to break out at any given moment, but she is choosing to stay in. That says a lot about her growth."

"You're not thinking about breaking her out are you Wes?" Angel asked in a serious voice.

"Not at all. I am thinking about what we might have to do if Buffy becomes too dangerous and we have to try something with her. Having the extra strength wouldn't be a bad thing."

"No, but we risk having two Slayers on the loose going crazy."

"Just food for thought. I have some work that needs to be done. Just try and relax I am sure Spike is fine."

"I hope so." Angel said sadly.

"He'll be alright. He is strong and he is a fighter he will be alright Angel and if he is not he will come here you know that."

"I know I just hate this."

"I know you do. Hopefully it will all be over with soon."

"I hope you're right Wes, because I don't know how much more Spike can take." Angel said sadly.

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It was just before sunset when Buffy walked back into Spike's crypt. She went back down the ladder and over to Spike who had his head hung low and was shaking from the pain and his muscle being sore from being stuck in that position for so long. Buffy smiled as she saw him. She could see the special rosary was burnt well into his skin and Buffy knew the longer it was on him the more damage and weaker it would make him.

"How are you feeling whore?" Buffy asked with a smirk.

Spike didn't say anything he just kept his head down.

"What's wrong too tired to talk?" Buffy asked with a chuckle.

Spike coughed before he spoke. "Buffy, please let me go." Spike said weakly.

Buffy punched him hard across the face before she spoke. "It's master, how many times do I have to tell you? God you really are nothing more than a stupid whore."

"I'm sorry master. Please let me go." Spike said weakly.

"You've lost a lot of blood, looks like you're gonna need that package of blood after all. I have to let you go so you can go make money, but the question is what will you do for the package of blood whore?" Buffy said in a condescending tone.

"Please master anything just let me go. I need blood." Spike said weakly.

"You're too disgusting to fuck so I guess you better put that mouth of yours to good work if you want me to give you blood." Buffy said as she stepped closer to Spike as she lifted up her skirt.

It took a great effort for Spike to lift his head and began to lick Buffy. He didn't want this, he didn't want any of this, but he knew he needed the blood in order to be able to even start to heal. It wouldn't do very much with just one package, but it was better than nothing. His whole body hurt and he wanted nothing more than to feel Angel's arms around him, but he had cut off the bond. It was still there, but he completely blocked out his emotions from Angel to the point that he couldn't even feel Angel and Angel wouldn't be able to feel him. He knew it would have made Angel worry, but with it being daylight he wouldn't have been able to travel to him. Spike figured he would just text Angel that he was fine just busy when he was free before he went to work. He had almost been working at the club for a year now and he couldn't believe it had been that long. He had never thought he would still be working there a year later and now he knew he would be stuck working there for the next three years when he could finally let Buffy kill him or he could kill himself. He could do it quickly and get drunk so it wouldn't hurt as much. He could finally be done and he would never have to be anyone's whore ever again, he just had to make it another three years and then he could just rest.

After ten long minutes Buffy had finally came and Spike couldn't have been happier. Buffy pulled back and put her skirt back down. She then went over to where she had placed the package of blood down. She opened it and poured it into a dog's bowl and she placed it down on the floor ten feet from where Spike was. She then went over to Spike and removed the chains and his body collapsed down onto the floor.

"You're an animal, a disgusting animal so you can eat like the animal you are. You want your blood then crawl over there and lick it out of the bowl like you animal you are." Buffy said with seething hatred.

"Yes master." Spike said softly.

He pushed himself up onto his hands and knees and crawled across the floor to the bowl of blood. His knees were bleeding from being on the hard, cold floor all day and they hurt with each step. As he reached the blood he could smell that it was already starting to go bad, clearly it hadn't been kept in a fridge. Spike knew that it would be disgusting as it was starting to go bad, but he didn't have a choice he needed blood so he would have to drink it. Spike licked the blood out of the bowl and did everything he could to keep it down and ignore the taste. Once the blood was gone Buffy spoke.

"Now what do you say?" Buffy said with a condescending tone.

"Thank-you master." Spike said weakly clearly having given up.

"Good whore, now get cleaned up and get to work I expect my money Sunday morning whore." Buffy said with hatred before she turned and left Spike there on the floor of his crypt.

Spike knew he had to get to work. He knew he had to move, but he was in so much pain and he felt so alone he just laid down on the floor curled up into a ball and cried. He never cries, not even Angelus could make him cry and yet this small blonde woman was enough to break him, to completely destroy him. Spike wanted Angel. He wanted to feel Angel's arms around him and telling him it would all be okay. He wanted to feel safe and cared about. He knew Angel would make it better, but he also knew that he would be disgusted by him if he knew what work he had really been doing. He would hate him, he would laugh at him and then eventually kill him. Spike wanted to die, but he couldn't die and leave Dawn all alone. He had to push through for her until she was of age and could be on her own. Spike forced himself up and into his bathroom to shower. He didn't even look down at himself, too afraid of what he would see. He just took a shower to wash the blood off from him, but the cold water did nothing to help warm him up. By the end of it he was shaking and his cough had gotten worse. Spike dried off and got dressed doing his best to ignore the pain he was in. The rosary was already making him weaker and he knew that it wouldn't be long before he was beyond exhausted and the rosary would burn through his skin down to his bone. There wasn't anything he could do about it though so with nothing but hopelessness and misery he left his crypt and headed into the club, where thankfully they didn't care what you looked like as long as your ass was tight and from being a vampire it always was.

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The next morning Dawn woke up next to Jake just after nine in the morning. She had set her alarm so she could be up early so she could get to L.A and get to the clinic before it was too late in the afternoon. She then would do some shopping to make her feel better. Last night they were successful in their heist so she had ten grand in her purse that she was going to bring with her and then just put the rest away with the rest of her money. Dawn got up out of bed and took a quick shower before getting dressed. She just finished getting dressed when Jake woke up to see Dawn getting ready.

"You leaving baby?" Jake asked as he sat up in bed.

"Ya I don't want to get there too late." Dawn said as she put on her shoes.

Jake got out of bed and went over to where his money was. He grabbed some before he went over to Dawn.

"I am going to book us a hotel room and make reservations at a fancy restaurant. I want you to buy yourself an amazing dress to wear." Jake said as he gave her a wad of cash.

"I have money you know." Dawn said with a smile.

"I know you do, but you are going to be upset today and I want you to feel better. So take the money go do some shopping and come back feeling better baby." Jake said gently.

Dawn took the money with a smile and she got up and gave Jake a kiss.

"I'm doing the right thing right?" Dawn asked slightly unsure.

"Ya baby you are. It wouldn't be fair to the baby to not have two parents who desperately want it. We're not ready for this and it wouldn't be fair to the baby, it would sense that type of thing. This is the right thing to do baby." Jake reassured her.

"You're right, ya okay. It wouldn't be fair to the baby you're right. I'm going to go and get it over with quickly and then do some shopping. I'll get an amazing dress that isn't too sexy but sexy enough to blow your mind. I'm looking forward to this weekend I can't wait." Dawn said with a smile.

"I am going to blow your mind away with romance and luxury baby. Text me and let me know what happens."

"I will. I'll see you tonight." Dawn said before she gave Jake a kiss before she grabbed her coat and headed out of the house and into her car.

She didn't know how this was all going to work, but she knew she was doing the right thing. It wasn't fair to a baby to have two parents that didn't even want it she was doing the right thing. Dawn took off for the highway so she could get this taken care of then she could go shopping. She also thought she would get something for Jake that she knew he was going to love, she would have to wait until Friday morning to do it so it would be a surprise, but she knew she could get it done easily enough. Feeling confident with her decision Dawn turned the music on and hit the open road.

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It was Friday afternoon and Dawn was sitting in the passenger seat of Jake's car. They were almost at the hotel that he had booked for them and Dawn was excited. She had gotten a special surprise for Jake that she was going to show off tonight for him after dinner and she was looking forward to it. She had gotten detention from missing the other day when she went down to L.A for the free clinic. She didn't care it was something she needed to do and now her and Jake could just get back on track with their life. They arrived at the hotel and Jake grabbed her bag for her before they headed inside. The lobby was beautiful and Dawn knew that this room was going to be amazing. Jake checked them in and got the key before they headed over to the elevator and Jake hit the button for the top floor.

"We're on the penthouse?" Dawn asked with a smile.

"I told you baby I always take care of my girl." Jake said as he kissed Dawn.

When they arrived on the penthouse floor Jake lead Dawn down the hallway until they reached their room. He opened it with the key card and opened the door for her. Dawn walked in and the first thing she noticed was the wall of floor to ceiling windows that faced out onto the ocean.

"Oh my God this place is beautiful Jake." Dawn said amazed at what she was seeing.

In the room there was a hot tub, an electric fireplace, a full size kitchen, a dining room, a high-end leather sectional facing the windows, a king size bed and a bathroom to die for. There was also a patio with furniture on it as well as a fire pit, all over-looking the beach.

"Only the best for my girl." Jake said as he wrapped his arms around her waist.

"Baby this is amazing." Dawn said as she turned around in his arms so she could kiss him.

"I got something else for us too baby." Jake said as he moved away and opened his bag to pull out a couple of bottles of whiskey and a baggy with Ecstasy pills and another with cocaine in it. "This one is Dov's shit. We are going to make full use of this room."

"Oh baby I can't wait. When's our reservation?"

"For seven, so we have three hours before we even have to think about getting ready."

"Then what the hell are we waiting for? Let's party."

They spent the next three hours having sex before they took a shower in a shower made of marble and big enough to put five people in it. They couldn't help themselves they had to have one last go in the shower before they got dressed. Dawn had bought a beautiful black dress that was tight and elegant at the same time and a new pair of black stiletto heels. She put her choker on as well before she walked out to show Jake.

"What do you think baby?" Dawn asked with a smile.

"I think you are the most beautiful woman in the world. That outfit is missing something though."

"Really? What?" Dawn asked slightly unsure.

Jake pulled out a jewellery box before he opened it and showed Dawn the diamond bracelet that matched her choker in style.

"Jake baby it's beautiful."

"I picked it up for you the other day. I know it wasn't easy for you and I just hate seeing you upset." Jake said as he picked up the bracelet and put it onto Dawn's right wrist.

"It's gorgeous thank-you. I love it and I love you."

"I love you too baby." Jake said as he kissed Dawn. "Now we need to go and have ourselves a fancy dinner."

Jake put Dawn's coat onto her before he held her hand and they headed off for the restaurant. After dinner was over they went back to the room. While they were out Jake had the room service bring up some champagne, strawberries and chocolate sauce. He also had them light candle all over the room and put rose petals all over the floor, the bed and in the hot tub. When they walked into the room Dawn was speechless.

"You like it baby." Jake asked with a smirk.

"You are the perfect man. How did I get so lucky to end up with you?" Dawn asked sincerely.

"You are the perfect woman that's how baby. You also need more romance in your life."

"Well why don't you pour us a drink while I slip into something more comfortable." Dawn said with a playful smile as she walked away and headed into the bedroom area.

Jake went and poured them each a drink and he put out two lines of the cocaine and a pill as well. He then removed his jacket and shoes and waited for when Dawn would come out. It was then his turn to be speechless when he saw Dawn. She came out wearing a tiny g-string that was black with small rimestones on it, her heels, her new bracelet and her choker, but what caught Jake's attention was the fact that her belly button was pierced and both nipples were pierced. She had a silver chain that went from both nipples down to her belly button ring and that was all she was wearing.

"You like you're surprise baby." Dawn asked with a flirty smile as she already knew the answer.

"When did you do this?" Jake asked with a huge smile as he went to touch her nipples.

"The other day. Dov did it. I've just been hiding it from you so I could surprise you tonight. Do you like baby?" Dawn asked with a smile.

"I love it. Fuck you look so sexy baby. I am going to fuck you right out on that patio for the whole beach to see."

"Guess it's a good thing I'm wearing a crotchless thong then. I see you already got us setup let's have some real fun baby and make some more great memories." Dawn said before she bent down to take her line.

The fun was about to start and the path for Dawn's downward spiral was laid down before her.


	8. Enough is Enough

Enough is Enough

It had been fifteen weeks since Angel had seen Spike. Thirteen weeks since he had felt Spike cutting off the bond that they once shared. He could still feel that Spike was alive, but he couldn't feel his emotions at all. Spike had texted him once a day letting him know that he was alive and just busy. As the weeks had gone by the texting happened every few days and now it had been three weeks since he had received any word from Spike. Angel was doing his best to support Spike and be understanding. They were both busy with work. Angel had experienced a lot of new vamps in L.A someone was out siring people left right and centre and Angel hadn't been able to find out who it was yet. Things in L.A had been very busy and Angel hadn't been able to come up. He knew it was likely to happen it was why Spike was the one that was going to be coming down to visit him, but he hadn't been by since the weekend with Dawn. Angel had been trying to give Spike his space and his freedom, but now after fifteen weeks he was done. The second it was nightfall Angel got into his car and headed for Sunnydale. He wasn't going to let Spike do this anymore. He was going to get to the truth behind Spike keeping his distance from him. He was done being patient and he was done being too busy to come out here to confront Spike face to face. Tonight he wasn't going to leave until he got the truth from Spike about what the hell was going on with him and with Dawn.

Angel was also concerned about Dawn, because she had stopped communicating with Cordelia two months ago. It had slowly been tapering off in the past three months and now Dawn wouldn't even text Cordelia back and it had them all worried. So after fifteen weeks of this they had all said enough was enough and hadn't even argued with Angel when he said he was going to be going to Sunnydale to see Spike. They were all hoping for some answers as to what the hell had been going on. Angel arrived in Sunnydale just a couple hours after sunset and he went straight for Spike's crypt. He parked his car as close to Spike's place as he could like last time and he got out of his car and headed towards Spike's crypt. He was not in the mood to be running into anyone, but especially Riley who was coming from the direction of Spike's crypt.

"Oh wonderful another vampire is in town." Riley said sarcastically.

"Riley, what the hell are you doing back here? Didn't you learn your lesson the first time after you were getting suck by vamp whores?" Angel said with a deadly tone. He was not in the mood for this tonight. All he wanted was to see Spike and get to the bottom of everything.

"It's funny that you would bring up vampire whores when your old pack mate is the biggest one there is." Riley said with a chuckle.

"What the hell are you talking about now?" Angel asked with clear annoyance in his voice, even though his panic was increasing at the comment.

"I'm talking about how Spike is the town's whore. He's been getting fucked by demons and humans for over a year now. He's a disgusting whore that is being treated as such. You two hate each other so much you should really go to the club and see for yourself tomorrow night. Or you could talk to Buffy I'm sure she would let you have a freebee. Just make sure you get the hell out of this town before I have my squad capturing you. My bosses would love to get their hands on a vampire who claims to have a soul."

"You and your bosses will never get your hands on me. And if I ever see you around Spike I will rip your throat out myself." Angel said with a deadly growl to his voice.

"You shouldn't threaten me Hostile I could have you contained within the hour. Get the hell out of my town by morning of you'll be in a cage while your former pack mate is on his knees spreading his legs for anyone that pays. Though I have to say he's made Buffy and me very happy. He's paid for our vacation to Hawaii just last month. He's a very well trained whore. You got twelve hours to get the hell out of town for good, because the next time I see you, you'll be spending the rest of your miserable existence in a cage." Riley said with complete authority and power in his voice before he walked past Angel and out of the graveyard.

Angel wanted nothing more than to kill him right then and there, but now Angel's fears seemed to be coming true. Spike was working at the brothel for the past year at least. Angel didn't know how much longer it was past a year, but it was at least a year now. Angel could feel his heart breaking at the fact that Spike had been forced to be nothing more than a whore. That his Spike, his Childe had been so desperate to do the one thing he always said was degrading and went against everything a vampire was, especially a Master Vampire. The fact that Spike was so desperate he would turn to being a prostitute to the demon and human race brought tears to Angel's eyes. It all made sense now why Spike was so afraid that Angel would just leave him. Why he was so uncertain about their relationship, why he had kept Angel at a distance in the past fifteen weeks. Angel had no doubt that Buffy and Riley had made the situation worse. If Spike had been giving Buffy more money than she knew what Spike had been doing and she would have used it against him. Angel took off at a run for Spike's crypt. Riley had said he would be working tomorrow night so Angel was hoping that meant that he wouldn't be working tonight. Angel could just barely feel Spike inside his crypt as he walked inside. Angel instantly noticed that upstairs was bare of anything. The small television that Spike had was no longer there nor was the fridge or microwave. There was no furniture either like there was last time and Angel would have felt concerned if it wasn't for the fact that Angel could feel Spike here and it wasn't from him living here so long since moving. Angel headed towards the trap door and jumped down and landed onto the bottom level. The air reeked of sex and blood. It was so overwhelming that Angel didn't know how Spike had been able to stand it down here for long. Spike's senses had always been stronger than his. Spike could get warm and he could get cold, he could hear and see better than Angel as well as smell faint scents. It had come in handy over the years, but Angel also knew it was frustrating and annoying to Spike at times.

Angel walked further into the downstairs area and he was instantly disgusted by what he saw. There across the room was a medium size metal dog crate, barely big enough to fit a Border Collie in it comfortably. Inside the crate curled into a painful ball was a naked Spike. Angel ran over to the crate and he bent down in front of it. He could see that Spike had a collar around his neck that was attached to a chain leash that was attached to a hook into the ground between the metal bars of the crate. Angel could feel his anger boiling over. Angel noticed the dog bowl on the floor with traces of blood in it that had long gone bad. Angel opened the crate and he grabbed the leash that was attached to the ground. He pulled it so it snapped off before he gently grabbed onto Spike's shoulders and carefully pulled him out of the too small dog crate. He laid Spike down so he was flat on his back on the dirty ground. Angel couldn't believe his eyes. Spike was a deadly grey color, he was so thin Angel could see all of his bones and even see which ones were broken. He was covered in old stab wounds that had yet to heal, he had whip markings all over his body, burns from holy water and acid covered his body as well. What made Angel's heart break even more was seeing the metal rosary so far embedded into Spike's chest and neck that it was all the way down to the bone. Spike's body was freezing and he had a sweat that was covering his body. Angel could feel the heat in Spike's forehead and he knew that Spike had somehow managed to get sick, something very rare and difficult for a vampire to do.

Angel brought his hands down to the rosary so he could rip it off from Spike. Once he touched it his hand began to burn, but he didn't care he went to rip it off from Spike only to find out that it wouldn't move. Angel tried it a few more times with both hands, but it wouldn't even more from Spike's skin. Angel figured there must be some kind of spell that was placed over the rosary and it also made sense why Spike wouldn't have removed it himself. Angel knew for the rosary to be this far into Spike's body that it would have to have been on him for a long time, months for it to get like this. Angel quickly went around the room and grabbed what clothes he could find of Spike's and he put them into a duffle bag. Angel couldn't help, but think it was sad that Spike only had two pairs of black jeans and two black t-shirts to his name. Not to mention the only shoes he had were the worn out black boots that were falling apart. That plus his signature leather jacket was all the clothing Spike owned to his name. Angel grabbed the things that he knew Spike cared deeply about. His old English poetry books and the few books that he had kept over the years that he enjoyed reading. Spike always did love literature and he spent most of his free time reading or writing. Angel grabbed his notebooks and his drawing books and pencils and he put them into the bag. He also grabbed any photographs that he had of Dawn before he zipped up the bag and then grabbed a blanket to wrap Spike in it. The blanket smelt of sex and blood, but it was all that they had to use. He could wrap Spike in it and carry him back to his car. Angel carefully wrapped Spike up in the worn and ratty blanket. He was disturbed by the fact that Spike didn't even move. Before Angel picked up Spike he grabbed a hold of the collar and ripped it off from Spike and threw it across the room. His anger was boiling over, but right now he had to take care of Spike before he dealt with Buffy. Angel grabbed the duffle bag and he gently picked up Spike bridal style and he growled at how light Spike was before he headed back up the ladder and out of the crypt. He ran back to his car and he gently laid Spike down in the front seat with him. He put the duffle bag into the back and he put Spike's head onto his lap as he turned his car on and took off for the highway as fast as he was able to.

Angel drove to the hotel and he kept looking down at Spike as he made the drive back. He didn't even move and Angel knew that Spike was deathly injured and weak. It wouldn't have been much longer before he had died from starvation and from the rosary embedded around his neck. He was so thin he weighted maybe a hundred pounds and Angel knew it was going to take a while before he was able to get Spike back to a healthy weight. It was going to take at least a month before Spike was back into a healthy weight. Angel would need to give him some of his blood as often as he could so he could get Spike healed and back to normal health. Angel knew though that the physical health was going to be easier than his mental and emotional health. Spike had been working as a prostitute for over a year and that was going to affect him. Spike had all of his human emotions, he was different than other vampires so it would wear on him having to do this. He was also horribly abused and that would give him problems as well.

Angel drove as fast as he could back to the hotel. Once they arrived Angel got out of the car and grabbed Spike and picked him up bridal style again as he headed inside. He didn't even stop to see the shocked faces of his friends as he went through the lobby and up the stairs to his room. They all ran after him as Angel placed Spike down on his bed still wrapped up in the blanket.

"What the hell happened?" Cordelia asked with anger as they came into the room.

"He's been tortured and starved." Angel said with anger in his voice as he fought down his demon.

"I'll get some blood warmed up." Fred said as she headed out of the room.

"I'll go and get more, I can get some from the blood bank I know a guy." Gunn said as he headed out of the room behind Fred.

"Wes, there's some kind of spell on this rosary that is keeping me from taking it off." Angel said.

Wesley came over to the side of the bed and saw how badly the rosary was embedded into Spike's skin.

"I can do a normal reversal spell it should work to remove it. I'll get it ready now." Wesley said with anger.

"I'll get a bath going he's covered in blood and dirt." Cordelia said as she went into Angel's connecting bathroom.

Angel couldn't believe how injured Spike was and he knew it was going to take a long time before he was recovered. Angel knew that even with his blood it would take a day or more before he was even awake to be able to talk. Angel didn't know what exactly had happened, but he knew Riley and Buffy had everything to do with it. The demon inside of Angel was screaming out for blood from the ones that had hurt his Childe like this. He didn't know what he was going to do about Buffy, but he knew he was going to make sure Riley paid for this. It wouldn't be right away, but Angel had patience. He could wait a very long time before he took his revenge against someone. He had a soul yes, but his soul was already sinful when he was sired. His soul wasn't pure and innocent like William's was. It was why he didn't have as many problems as people would suspect in some of the things he had done since getting his soul. Killing and torturing the innocent people bothered him greatly and they always would. However, killing those that weren't innocent didn't bother him and he didn't view Riley as innocent. Angel was going to make sure Spike got justice for what had been done to him.

Cordelia came back out into the room as she spoke.

"Ok the tub is ready."

Angel just gave a nod and Wesley walked into the room with a book in his hands. He went over to the side of the bed by Spike as he spoke.

"This is a general reversal spell. I'm assuming Willow wasn't the one to put the spell on the rosary so it shouldn't be too difficult to remove."

Wesley started speaking Latin as he went through the words of the spell. After a minute the rosary began to glow and when it stopped Wesley nodded to Angel to try and remove it. Angel didn't even hesitate he moved his hands over to the rosary and began to gently pull it out of Spike's skin. He was relieved to see that it was working. Angel worked quicker and he removed the blood covered rosary from Spike's body. He placed it down on the bedside table as his hand smoked from touching the holy object.

"That looks really bad. Will that heal?" Cordelia asked.

"It will, but it could scar him. It was a holy object." Wesley said.

Fred came walking into the room with a pitcher of blood and a glass. She went over and placed them down on the bedside table with a grim smile as she looked at Spike.

"It's all the blood we have. Will he be okay?" Fred asked with worry to her voice.

"He just needs blood into him and he'll recover." Angel said.

"We'll get out of here and let you tend to him. Call if you need anything." Wesley said with understanding in his voice that Angel would need to get Spike to drink from him before getting him into the bath.

The others all left the room to give Angel some time alone with Spike to get him feed and cleaned up. Once the door closed Angel grabbed the pitcher and he poured some of the blood into the glass and he took it all in one go. He did that until the pitcher was empty before he cut his wrist with his fang and placed it over Spike's mouth and allowed the blood to flow into Spike's mouth. Spike's demon was so starved that he quickly let his fangs down and bit into Angel's wrist to truly start to drink the desperately needed blood. After twenty minutes Angel felt himself starting to get dizzy and the extra blood was no longer in his system. Angel gently pulled his wrist back and Spike gave no struggle to holding on. Angel licked the wound closed before he got up and removed the blanket from Spike and picked him up gently in his arms. He carried Spike over to the bathroom and gently lowered him into the bath tub. Spike didn't even move at all. Angel grabbed the cloth and began to get the blood and other bodily fluids that Angel didn't even want to think about from Spike's body. He had to change the water three times before Spike was fully cleaned. Angel then dried him off and got him into bed and pulled the covers over Spike. With that done Angel grabbed the pitcher and the glass and headed back downstairs to get some more blood for himself and for Spike.

Angel got downstairs and saw that everyone was standing there all looking worried and angry to various degrees.

"I got as much blood as I could it's in the fridge." Gunn said.

Angel just gave a nod and headed into the kitchen to get some blood for himself. He warmed up a mug before he went back out with it and spoke.

"I don't know what has been happening. He hasn't woken up to even talk to me. He was unconscious when I found him and even after getting him cleaned up he still hasn't even moved."

"Where did you find him?" Wesley asked.

"In his crypt. He was locked up in this small dog crate barely big enough for a medium size dog. He had a collar and a leash attached to the floor. I don't know what has been going on. He only texts me once every few days to say that he's fine and its been a few weeks since he's messaged me. It might not even have been him messaging me. I saw Riley not far from Spike's crypt and he told me how Spike had been working at the demon brothel for over a year now." Angel said clearly not happy about it.

"Like a brothel brothel?" Fred asked confused.

"Demons and humans pay to have sex or bite a vampire or demon." Angel said with anger in his voice.

"Why would Spike do that? That doesn't make any sense." Cordelia said.

"It makes perfect sense. Spike had been taking care of Dawn, a human child, we already know that he had lost his standing among the demon community making it impossible for him to get a job. Spike did what most desperate single mothers do when they need to support their child. He sold the one thing he could and could make money off of. By working at the brothel he was able to keep a roof over Dawn's head and food in her stomach. No matter how much he hated working there he would have continued to return because Dawn meant more to him than anything else." Wesley said.

"That's exactly it. Spike wouldn't have let Dawn be kicked out to the streets and he wouldn't have let her go hungry. He did what he had to do to keep supporting her, even after Buffy came back and it wasn't his responsibility anymore. He would have hated every moment of it and he would have been ashamed. It's why he kept a distance with me. Why he was just waiting for me to walk away. Something happened to make Spike like this. He was handling the job before Buffy came back and he was dealing with it. Something else happened four months ago to make him even more distant and to cut me off." Angel said with anger.

"Well you know what happened. You said you saw Riley so there is no way Buffy didn't know about what was going on. She probably did something to make the situation even worse." Cordelia said with her own anger.

"Riley told me that Spike has been paying for them, including a vacation to Hawaii last month. Buffy had been making Spike pay money each week to see Dawn and he had to pay all of her bills. She must have been making him pay even more or just taking it from him. This wasn't the first time he's been locked up in that crate." Angel said through clenched teeth.

"Was it really a dog crate?" Gunn asked disgusted that another human being would do that to someone, especially someone who couldn't fight back.

"It was an actual dog crate, like a crate that you would put a Border Collie in. There was a dog bowl on the floor by the crate it had dry blood in it. The smell though, whatever blood he has been given it had been going bad or already gone bad. It would have made him sick, but if it was the only blood he was being given he would have had no choice but to drink it or he risked dying from starvation. He didn't give in during the last fifteen weeks and the only reason he kept going was for Dawn. Otherwise I don't think he would have put himself through that torture." Angel said.

"And Dawnie is a whole other story. I haven't heard from her in three months practically. If Spike has been stuck in that crate or basement for fifteen weeks now then chances are he hasn't been seeing Dawnie either. Without anyone watching out for her then what the hell has she been getting into?" Cordelia asked with concern in her voice.

"I don't know. I need to talk to Spike once he is able to. I don't know what has been going on. Maybe you should call Dawn and see if she will answer. I don't think she has been doing well being on her own." Angel said.

"I thought Spike was going to talk to the others and see if they would help out." Fred asked.

"He did and from what I heard that only Tara and Willow took it seriously and they were only around for a little while before their life got too busy again and they went back to barely seeing Dawnie." Cordelia said.

"So she's really been on her own for the past fifteen weeks. Maybe one of us should go down there and pick her up." Wesley suggested.

"Ya but for how long? Buffy still has guardianship over Dawn. We can't just take her and even if we do there is nothing stopping Buffy from coming down here and starting a smack down for her. The courts won't believe what we have to say and Dawn would have to go against her sister. And if she is running around with that boyfriend of hers then she might not be willing to do that." Gunn said.

"We need to talk to Spike first before we do anything and see what has been going on. Cordy try and call Dawn and see if she will answer. I need to get back to Spike." Angel said.

"I'll give Dawnie a call and see if she will answer this time around. You go be with Spike." Cordelia said with understanding in her voice.

"I'll go do a quick patrol to make sure nothing is going on out there." Gunn said.

"I'll go with you." Wesley said.

"Thanks guys." Angel said before he turned and headed back to the kitchen to get more blood for himself before he went back upstairs and to his room.

He walked in and saw that Spike was still sound asleep on the bed where Angel had left him. Angel drank the rest of the blood that he had gotten from the kitchen before he went and sat down in the chair by the bed and just watched as Spike slept.

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It was a few hours later when Spike started to stir. Angel got up from the chair and went and sat down on the edge of the bed. Spike slowly opened his eyes and Angel could see the pain so deeply in them that it broke his heart. Spike was always so strong. He could take a lot and Angel had never seen so much hurt in his eyes before not even when Angelus had gotten a hold of him.

"It's okay my Sweet Childe, you're safe." Angel said gently.

Spike looked over and saw Angel. Angel could see the confusion in his eyes. Spike looked at Angel and the second his eyes laid on him, Spike's eyes began to fill with tears.

"It's okay." Angel said softly as he brought his left hand to Spike's right cheek. He was gentle because he could see that Spike was in a great deal of pain and he didn't want to hurt any of his injuries.

"Kill me." Spike said weakly with complete brokenness to his voice.

"I'm not going to kill you William." Angel said with hurt and surprise in his voice. Never had Spike ever asked for death, not even when Angelus was torturing him screaming at him to beg for death. Spike had never broken.

"You have to. I'm a disgrace to the family you have to kill me. Please kill me and make it stop." Spike said as tears went down his face.

"You are not a disgrace to the family or to me William. I am not going to kill you. I care about you too much. It has stopped. You are safe here with me in L.A it's stopped. Now you can just heal and I will get you through this. We will get through this together. You are in pain, exhausted and starving it won't seem so bad once you get some proper rest and blood. You can't give up now." Angel said with strength and hurt in his voice.

"Please it hurts too much."

Spike broke down and Angel couldn't just sit there and let Spike completely break down. Angel went and very carefully sat back beside Spike and pulled him into his arms. Spike turned his body into Angel's much larger one. Spike just couldn't take it anymore. It was one thing to be tortured by another demon, but it was something completely different to be tortured by the Slayer, someone who was supposed to be good. Someone that Spike fell in love with and cared for deeply. He had been tortured and broken by two humans and now his release to that pain was being killed and Angel was refusing to do it. Spike couldn't help, but feel helpless and hopeless at the situation. Angel just held onto Spike as he cried and let out all of the pain that he had felt for the past year plus. He had to be the adult and parent to a grieving human teenage girl. He had to deal with the verbal abuse of the other Scoobies. The abuse and hatred from the demon world. He had to work in a brothel the one place Angel knew that Spike would have only gone to if he was completely desperate. Now he had to deal with the abuse from the woman he once loved and her ex-boyfriend. Angel could understand why Spike had reached his limit.

After twenty minutes Spike had stopped crying and Angel gently wiped away the tears from his cheeks. Spike went to move away from Angel's arms, but Angel only held him closer.

"I'm not about to let you go." Angel said gently and Spike could hear the determination in his voice.

"You should hate me. You should be throwing me out into the sun and you know it." Spike said with an empty voice.

"Why? Because it's what you are used to? Someone says they care about you, but the second something happens that they don't like they just toss you to the curb with the trash. I'm not about to do that to you. I care about you and it doesn't matter what happened I still care. I know you've been working at that brothel. I don't care about how many other demons you've slept with. I care about what happened to you with Buffy and that solider boy. I care about what has been happening to Dawnie. I care about you and what has been happening to you. There is nothing you can tell me that would make me hate you or kick you out of here. You're not leaving here my Childe." Angel said calmly.

"You haven't heard from the Niblet?" Spike asked with worry.

"No I haven't heard from her in months. Cordy hasn't heard from here in three months and before that it was only twice. When was the last time you heard from her?"

"Eleven weeks. I haven't seen her in eleven weeks. I haven't even talked to her in eleven weeks. She just texts me and cancels when we are supposed to meet. For those first few weeks I only saw her once a week for an hour or so. And it could only be in a public place and Buffy was there watching us. So I couldn't even talk to her about her life." Spike said sadly with worry in his voice.

"Why didn't you tell me William? I could have helped you find a different job." Angel said calmly.

"I couldn't risk you not wanting anything to do with me. I tried to get other jobs in the community, but they were all stonewalling me. After Buffy died I took care of the Niblet for two months, but I ran out of money and the community wouldn't let me work for them unless I stop taking care of the Niblet and I couldn't do that to her. The rent was coming up and I hadn't even eaten anything in three weeks. I didn't know what to do, but I couldn't let her go out to the street so I went to the brothel. It started out just a few times a month to get the money and it just went up from there." Spike said with shame in his voice.

"I'm sorry you had to go through that. You don't have to do it anymore. We'll figure it all out together my Childe."

"I've been investing. I got a broker to invest some much money from my account each month. I can use the investment money to pay for the Niblet. You really won't kill me?" Spike asked with a slight hopefulness of it being over.

"No I'm not going to kill you and I know you won't let anyone else do it so you're stuck here with me. I know you are exhausted and in pain, but we need to talk about what has been happening. When did the abuse escalate and when did soldier boy get involved?" Angel asked with a hint of anger, but Spike knew it wasn't directed towards him.

"Fifteen weeks ago. They were both there when I got back to my crypt. The Masters…Buffy and soldier boy chained me up to the ceiling. The Master." Spike faltered again and he closed his eyes trying to get his mind to work properly.

"I know it's hard William. You don't have any masters. Buffy and soldier boy can't hurt you anymore. You are your own master. I know it's been tortured into you and it's going to take some time to get your mind back into a healthy place again. It's okay just take your time." Angel said gently even though he was full of rage.

Spike took in a deep breath before he spoke again.

"Soldier boy is back with the Initiative and they had been working on drugs that would have different effects on demons. He injected me with this drug that intensified pain. Buffy actually sucked him off and had sex with him right there in front of me. Afterwards he whipped me and stabbed me. They were all blessed so each time it burned. Buffy put this rosary around my neck that had a spell on it to make it so I couldn't take it off. I hadn't had any blood in a week and with the amount that I lost it didn't take much before my body was losing too much. They left me there all day chained up. Buffy came back with a package of blood. She made me eat her out before she would let me have the blood. She put it in this dog dish across the floor and she unchained me and made me crawl over to it and lick it out. The blood had been going bad, but I had to drink it I was losing too much then I had to go to work."

Spike began to shiver and Angel held him closer and pulled the covers over Spike's body. He rubbed gentle soothing circles on the back of Spike's neck while Spike fought with the memories and the pain from it.

"She started taking more money from me. Making me work more hours without a break or blood. Master… solider boy came back to the club and was there once a week. After the first three weeks of their joined abuse I was so weak and in so much pain I couldn't fight em even if I was able to. They started locking me in the cage, giving me bad blood, they would have some of the more dangerous clients that even the club wouldn't let in to come to the crypt. They would chain me up on the bed for days straight. I stopped fighting there was no point. I couldn't fight them with the chip. I just waited to die." Spike said with a few tears going down his cheeks again as he shivered.

"I'm so sorry my sweet Childe. They can't hurt you anymore. You're safe here with me I'll keep them from you. We'll work this out with Dawnie and make sure she is taken care of and in a good place right now. It's okay it's over." Angel said soothingly as he held Spike closer to his chest wrapped up in his arms.

"He was just a normal human. He whipped me, slashed me apart, he poured holy water in my cuts and made me drink it. He fucked me with a cross. He chained me down and raped me every week. He was just human and I couldn't stop him. I can't get the hands off from me. I feel so dirty. I couldn't stop him." Spike said as he broke down once again in Angel's arms.

Angel held Spike to his chest as his eyes turned golden yellow from the rage in his demon screaming out. Him and Spike weren't connected right now, but even still his demon could feel the pain that Spike was in. The pain that his Childe was in. To hear that Spike had been working in a demon brothel was upsetting to Angel and he hated that other demons had been having sex with Spike and possibly drinking from him. Spike didn't want to do it, but he showed up for work every day knowing what he was getting himself into. It was something completely different when someone chained him up and raped him. Forced him to have sex knowing that he didn't want it. To be violent like he knew Riley would have been with him. It was something that Angel couldn't stand or handle. His demon was screaming out for Riley's blood and Angel knew he would give it to his demon freely and not feel any remorse over it. It was just a matter of when it would be the best time to strike.

"It's okay my Childe. It's only my hands on you and no one else's. It's just you and me here William. No one will hurt you like that again you're safe and free from all of that pain. Just let it out. You need to let it out my Childe it's the only way you will heal from this. It's okay I'm right here no one will hurt you." Angel said trying to keep his voice gentle and comforting despite the rage boiling within him.

Spike curled into Angel's chest as much as he could and he cried the pain out of him. He knew it wasn't going to make everything better. He knew just being here wasn't going to take the pain and nightmares away. He knew he was going to have problems still, but at least for the first time in months he felt safe and cared for. Once Spike finally quieted down once again Angel wiped his cheeks as he spoke.

"You need blood. You are very weak right now and too thin. You need more blood to heal and get strong again my Childe."

"I'm not hungry." Spike said with exhaustion in his voice.

"That's because you've barely eaten anything at all in over a year. You need to eat a little bit of my blood to help heal you." Angel said calmly.

"Your blood?" Spike asked confused.

"Yes my blood. I already gave you some when I brought you here. It's the best thing for you. Just take a little bit for now if that is all you can handle then we'll curl up and you can sleep for as long as you want."

"I don't deserve your blood Sire." Spike said sadly with complete honesty in his voice.

"I don't know anyone who is more deserving my Childe. Nothing that has happened changes what I think or feel about you. I still care deeply for you and I always will. You show the world this tough persona that you've invented for yourself all the time. The only time you ever show the real you is with me. Like our own secret we share with each other. You deserve my blood and I will always freely and gladly give it to you. So drink my Childe and start to heal and get strong again." Angel said with complete honesty and strength to his voice.

Spike looked at Angel with shock and awe in his eyes that Angel didn't think of him as undeserving or disgusting. He still cared about him and that amazed and confused Spike. He couldn't understand why Angel would still care about him at all. Spike felt Angel's hand on the back of his neck and gently stroked his thumb along the back of Spike's neck as he gently guided Spike's head closer to his neck. Spike didn't fight against it and allowed Angel to guide his head down to his neck. Spike gently kissed and sucked on Angel's neck before he gently slipped his teeth into Angel's neck and took a small pull. His stomach wasn't too hungry, but the second the taste of Angel's blood hit his tongue Spike couldn't help the moan that escaped him at being able to drink real blood for the first time in over four months. Spike took slow small pulls of the blood so he wouldn't upset his stomach. After only a couple of minutes he pulled his teeth out and licked the two puncture wounds closed before placing a gently kiss to Angel's neck over the mark. Spike placed his head down on Angel's chest as Angel continued to stroke the back of his neck.

"You could have taken more Childe." Angel said gently.

"I'm not used to blood. Don't want to anger my belly. Now I'm all sleepy." Spike said with his eyes closed.

"Let's lay down properly. You falling asleep half sitting up will only hurt your injuries."

Angel began to move and that forced Spike to move off from his chest. Angel got changed out of his clothing before he went around to the other side of the bed. He got under the covers and gently got Spike on his right side and curled up against his chest. Angel wrapped his arms around Spike to put him in this protective cocoon. Spike closed his eyes and just allowed himself to enjoy and embrace the comfort his Sire was offering as he fell asleep feeling safe for the first time in over four months.


	9. The Truth Comes Out

_**Warnings: Swear words and mentions of past abuse. There really isn't much to worry about in this chapter.**_

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The Truth Comes Out

The next morning Spike woke up even more tired than he had been in the past year and a half. He didn't know why, because he slept all night through without waking up from any nightmares. His body was in a great deal of pain though and just the thought of moving was making it hurt even worse. Spike groaned as he rolled over onto his back. Angel was already awake at the first feeling of Spike waking up. He sat up and looked down at Spike with concern and worry in his eyes.

"You need blood."

Spike just gave a small weak nod as the pain kicked up a notch. Angel used his fangs to cut open his wrist for Spike before he placed it against Spike's mouth. Spike didn't even argue he just opened his mouth and let his fangs sink into the wrist and drank from it. After a few minutes Spike stopped and he licked the wound closed. Angel pulled his wrist back and he began to check over Spike's injuries. He was still very heavily injured, but he seemed to be finally healing some with his blood getting into him. It would still take weeks before he was back to full health and back into a good weight. He was at least on the road to recovery.

"Are you ok if I go downstairs and get some blood?"

"Ya go." Spike said trying to sound reassuring even though it came out weak and pain filled.

"I'll be right back." Angel said before he kissed Spike's forehead and got up and out of bed.

Angel put on a shirt and he headed out of the room and down the stairs. He went into the kitchen to get some blood warmed up for himself. He saw that everyone was in the kitchen getting breakfast themselves.

"How is he?" Cordelia asked right away.

"He's weak and in a lot of pain. It's going to take weeks before he is pain free." Angel answered as he opened the fridge to grab some blood to warm up.

"Physically. There is no telling how long it will take to heal mentally and emotionally from everything that has happened to him." Wesley said sympathetically.

"Did he say anything?" Fred asked.

"He begged me to kill him." Angel answered sadly.

"Seriously?" Cordelia asked shocked.

"He's a little better now I think. He knows I won't kill him. He has no choice, but to try and heal from it. He's done though. He can't take anymore. He's really worried about Dawnie though. He hasn't seen her in months she kept canceling on him. She doesn't even text him anymore. Did you get through to her yesterday?" Angel asked Cordelia.

"No the number doesn't even work anymore." Cordelia answered.

"Maybe one of us should drive up there and check it out for ourselves." Gunn suggested.

"Is there someone we could call that might know what has been going on?" Wesley asked.

"Tara might. I'll call and see if she knows anything. If not then one of us should go up there and see what has been happening." Angel said.

"I think it would be wise to gather all of the information we can on how Buffy has been lately." Wesley said.

"I'll call Tara and see if she knows anything if not Wesley you can go down and talk to the others."

Before anyone could say anything else the front door opened and they all looked at each other. They weren't expecting anyone, but it wasn't the first time a client came in this early in the morning. They all headed out of the kitchen and into the lobby to see Tara standing there by the door.

"Tara, we were just talking about calling you." Angel said calmly as he could tell she looked nervous.

"I um… I hope it's okay that I came by without calling first. I just….I just didn't know what to do. I've been trying to get a hold of Spike for a couple of months now, but he won't answer his phone and he's not there at his crypt. I was hoping you might know where he was." Tara said slightly awkwardly.

"No it's fine. Come in. Do you want some coffee or something?" Cordelia asked with a smile.

"No thank-you." Tara said politely as she made her way over to the sitting area with everyone else.

"I'll be right back I'm just going to check on him." Angel said and the others understood what he meant.

Angel headed up the stairs and into his bedroom. He saw Spike still on the bed and he was half awake. He opened his eyes when he heard the door open and he saw Angel there. Angel went and sat down on the edge of the bed.

"Will, Tara just arrived. She's been looking for you for a couple of months now. I'm going to be down there talking to her about Buffy and Dawnie. Cordy hasn't been able to get a hold of her and her number has changed. Are you okay if I go do that?" Angel asked calmly.

"No you need to do that." Spike said with worry in his voice.

"Ok I'll be back up here once I have some information. Just rest please."

Spike gave a small nod. Angel bent down and once again placed a kiss to Spike's forehead before he got up and headed back downstairs and sat down on one of the couches.

"Everything ok?" Cordelia asked Angel.

"He's just going to sleep. Spike is upstairs. I found him last night tortured and beaten almost to death in his crypt. I brought him back here and he's staying here. I've barely heard from him in the past four months now and the same goes for Dawnie. Spike is really worried about her. She kept canceling their times together and she barely texted him. None of us have heard from her and Cordy tried her cell, but the number was changed." Angel told Tara.

"Is Spike okay? Who attacked him?" Tara asked with concern.

"He's seriously injured. It'll take weeks before he's physically healed. I can't tell you what happened, it's his story to tell and I don't know who he wants to know. But from now on he will be living here and you can reach him through the hotel number or my cell. I don't know where his ended up, but it's not here."

"What we really need to know is how Dawn is doing and what Buffy has been like." Wesley said calmly.

"I haven't seen Buffy around much. Willow and me are living at the house, but things haven't been good. Buffy is spending a lot of time with Riley and the new Initiative. She's been gambling a lot. She's not working, but she is getting money from somewhere. The bills are always paid through a bank account that I think belongs to Spike. Her and Riley have been going away on weekends and on a trip to Hawaii. I think she is stealing it from Spike. She doesn't patrol much anymore and she has been helping the Initiative in capturing demons and vampires. She says they aren't doing any experiments just killing them, but then why capture them? She doesn't come home much and Willow is really worried about her, but she doesn't know what to do. She just doesn't seem to care anymore like she used to. Even patrolling she only goes with Riley and that's for captures. She doesn't slay anymore hardly. We've been doing it and the vampire population is going up with us not being able to keep up. As bad as it sounds we also have lives we have to live. We're just normal humans, we don't have super powers or fighting skills. None of us know what to do anymore." Tara said honestly.

"This is a problem. A Slayer who is not slaying, but helping to capture demons and vampires. She used to believe it was wrong, now she is helping them. I am afraid it may be time to make that phone call Angel." Wesley said.

"Phone call to who?" Tara asked.

"Giles. And you're right Wes make the call and tell him to come here first so we can explain everything." Angel said.

"I'll call afterwards." Wesley said.

"What about Dawnie? How has she been?" Gunn asked.

"We don't really know. For a while we thought she was spending her time out of school with Spike. He hadn't been around asking about her so we assumed he was seeing her. She forged Buffy's signature on her phone number change form at school. She gave a false one so that when she skipped it wouldn't go to the house. Willow and I we haven't really seen her in two months. The last time she left the house she was driving this brand new black mustang convertible. Apparently it's hers. That was the last time we've seen her. At first we just thought we were missing each other between courses and her going to hang with Spike. Then last week a woman from social services came by the house when Buffy was gone. I was there and she told me how Dawnie hadn't been in school for two months. She left a card and told me to have Buffy call." Tara started.

"So where has she been if she isn't in school and she wasn't with Spike?" Fred asked.

"I don't know. After the social worker left I went into Dawnie's room. I was hoping there would be something there to help me understand. She's never loved school like Willow, but she's never hated it either. She had problems doing homework like every other kid her age, but she always did it and did very well. Her door was always closed and when I went in I looked around and most of her clothes were gone. I um… I found little baggies empty from drugs and some with a little left in it. I brought them with me I thought maybe Angel you would be able to tell what it is. I also found this doctor's paper. It's from a free clinic here in L.A. Almost four months ago Dawnie came down and got an abortion." Tara said as she pulled out the form and the little baggies of drugs.

"What?" Angel asked shocked and concerned as he took what Tara held out to him.

"I know. Willow was shocked when I showed her. She wanted to know why Spike never said anything or if he even knew. When I told her that I hadn't been able to get a hold of him or find him in two months she suggested I come and talk to you. We don't know what to do anymore. And it sounds bad, but we don't have to time to handle this. I want to help her, but I don't even know where to start for something like this. She's so lost and she must be in a great amount of pain to be doing these things. She's not happy she can't be. I know she was happy here for that weekend. I thought maybe if we could find her that she could spend some time here. I know it's a lot to ask, but we just don't know what to do." Tara said sadly.

"She'll live here. We can take care of her and get her back on track." Angel said.

"I bet you she is with that boyfriend Jake something. He's got to be the one that got her pregnant and been giving her the drugs. We find him then we'll find her." Cordelia said.

"With Dawnie being mixed into the wrong crowd getting her out of Sunnydale is the best thing for her." Gunn said.

"What did the social worker have to say?" Wesley asked.

"She was talking about having Buffy's guardianship removed and having Dawnie placed in a group foster home for troubled teens. She was already starting the paperwork to have Dawnie removed. I offered to become Dawnie's guardian, but she refused to let me. She doesn't think having another single female would be best for Dawnie and what she would need. She wasn't happy at all. She had been calling Buffy trying to get meetings with her, but Buffy has been ignoring her. Willow and Xander think she is just having a hard time adjusting, but…" Tara said unsure if she should even say this out loud.

"You think something went wrong." Wesley simply stated.

"I come from a magic family. I grew up around Earth witches. I know that there are rules you don't break. Raising the dead is one of them. I never would have if Willow hadn't assured me that Buffy was trapped in a Hell dimension. I just couldn't bear to leave her in a place like that. Not after everything she had done to save the world in her life. I thought Willow checked, but she didn't. We didn't finish the spell, the circle was broken and the urn was destroyed. The Buffy that died would never have neglected Dawnie. She would never go back with Riley after what happened. She would never work with the Initiative capturing demons and vampires. She would never neglect her duties as a Slayer. This isn't our Buffy that came back. The spell worked, but we didn't bring Buffy back. I don't know who or what we did bring back, but it's not Buffy. She doesn't even have the same aura. I thought it would go back to normal once she got used to being back, but it hasn't. Something needs to happen." Tara explained.

"I'll call Giles and between us we can figure out just what did go wrong. We will need to run some tests on Buffy though, magical in nature. As I have explained to Angel there truly is no telling what could have gone wrong. Do you remember the exact spell Willow did because that would be very helpful in narrowing down the possibilities?" Wesley asked.

"Yes I do. I can write it down for you." Tara said.

"Off the top of your head what could it be?" Gunn asked Wesley.

"As I have said to Angel it could be a number of things, but it is possible only part of her soul got returned to her body. The soul is the last part that returns when you bring someone back from the dead. It is the last thing that leaves the body when you die. Part of a soul could keep her from harming humans, but have no problem with torturing demons or vampires. She could have someone else's soul within her. Her personality could have been altered from the long period of death that she was in. Honestly, it could be anything and it might never be able to be fixed I'm afraid." Wesley answered.

"So worst case scenario Buffy goes off the rails and is working with the enemy in a way." Cordelia started.

"In a way?" Fred asked.

"The Initiative is someone I would consider the enemy. Torturing demons and vamps not very Slayery. Say something is wrong and we can't fix it. What do we do then?" Cordelia asked.

"We have Faith, but she is in prison." Wesley said.

"We need to start researching and figuring out a way to get her out of there legally just in case." Angel said.

"Really? She tried to kill you." Gunn said.

"We might need her. She is a Slayer and if we need help containing Buffy she's going to come in handy. Spike can't with his chip and you won't be any match for her if I need the backup." Angel said.

"Also if we can't fix Buffy then Sunnydale will have a Slayer. We cannot leave the Hellmouth unguarded." Wesley added.

"I'll start looking into it and see if I can figure out how to get her out if we have to." Cordelia said.

"In the meantime we need to find this boyfriend and see if we can find Dawnie with him. What's the drug?" Gunn asked Angel.

Angel opened the one package and smelt it before he smelt the other one.

"One's cocaine and the other one is some mixture of cocaine and MDA. Both are addicting." Angel answered.

"So she is probably addicted to drugs then." Gunn stated.

"Most likely. This situation is serious." Wesley said.

"I can't leave Spike right now to go and look for Dawnie. Gunn why don't you go down to Sunnydale and see if you can track down her boyfriend." Angel said.

"What's his last name do we know?" Gunn asked.

"I don't know. Janice is still Dawnie's best friend she might know something." Tara said.

"How did you get down here?" Angel asked Tara.

"I took a bus." Tara answered.

"You can ride back with me. How long am I supposed to stay down there?" Gunn asked Angel.

"See if you can find her by morning if not come back. I'm sure Giles will be here by then." Angel answered.

"I will call him now and he will be on the next plane I assure you. Tomorrow morning will be good. Tara perhaps you would like to be here for that." Wesley said.

"Yes I would thank-you." Tara said.

"Do you want to just stay here or go with Gunn?" Cordelia asked.

"I'll go with him and help look around. No one knows I'm here either. I really should tell Willow."

"Just don't tell anyone about Spike being here. I don't want any of them or Buffy coming down here for him." Angel said.

"I won't. Why not Buffy though?" Tara asked confused slightly.

"They're gonna find out eventually." Cordelia said to Angel.

"Buffy is the one that hurt Spike isn't she?" Tara asked sadly.

"She's been abusing him for months now, almost a year. Her and Finn have been torturing and beating Spike for four months now almost. She's not the same Buffy she was before she died." Angel said.

"I had no idea. I knew Spike and Buffy were sleeping together, but I had no idea she was hurting him. I won't tell anyone that he's here or that Giles is coming. I'll tell Willow I need to come down here for some school research. She really doesn't want to believe that something went wrong with the spell or Buffy. She feels guilty as it is with finding out she was in Heaven." Tara said calmly.

"So she should. She may be in for a very serious consequence and lesson I'm afraid. We cannot ignore this any longer. Not only with the level of damage that has been done to Spike, but Dawn now. This needs to end. I would suggest we start finding a good legal lawyer to get Faith out and a good family lawyer to get guardianship of Dawn." Wesley said.

"For who though? Is social services going to let us take Dawnie in?" Fred asked.

"Maybe Spike, if he had the right papers. If Willow is on board with everything she could create papers where Spike could be an older brother or half-brother. She would be able to go to family if there was any." Tara suggested.

"That could work. Her father has long been out of the picture. Who's to say that Dawn's father couldn't have gotten an English woman pregnant before Buffy was born. It could work if we got Spike looking the part." Wesley said.

"Lose the all black clothing and the long black duster for the meetings. He probably cleans up nice." Cordelia said.

"Talk to Willow about it and see what she has to say. If she won't then we can have someone down here do it." Angel said to Tara.

Tara gave a nod and Wesley spoke as he stood up.

"Right I will call Giles and get him down here. Tara if you wouldn't mind writing out the spell that Willow performed that would be most helpful."

"Of course." Tara said.

"While you are doing that I will get ready and we can hit the road." Gunn said as he got up to bring his mug into the kitchen.

"There's coffee and food in the kitchen help yourself. I'll go tell Spike what is going on." Angel said.

"Good luck." Cordelia said with a small smile.

"We need to find her. If you can't find her by morning then we'll do a locator spell and try that." Angel said.

"I've already tried she has blocked herself somehow. She picked up a talisman or did a spell around herself, but she's blocked us from finding her that way." Tara said sadly.

"Great." Cordelia said sarcastically.

"Looks like we really are going old school then. I'll go get ready." Gunn said.

"I hope Spike is going to be okay." Tara said to Angel.

"He'll be fine in time. We need to find Dawnie, because he's not going to stop worrying about her until we do and he's in no shape to be moving around looking for her." Angel said.

"We'll find her." Gunn said with confidence.

Angel gave a nod and he stood up to head up the stairs to talk to Spike. He really wasn't looking forward to this conversation, but he knew he couldn't keep this from Spike. He had to tell him though, this wasn't something he could keep to himself. He couldn't do that to Spike. Angel headed up the stairs and into the bedroom. He saw Spike fighting to keep his eyes open from his spot on the bed. He looked horrible. He was very thin and covered in bruises, cuts, burns and broken bones. It was going to take a long time before he was back to complete health and back to a good weight once again. Angel didn't care though, he wasn't going to give up on Spike and he wasn't going to let Spike deal with everything on his own. Angel shut the door and went over to the bed and sat down on the edge. Spike's eyes fluttered open again and he forced them to stay open as he saw Angel sit down on the bed.

"Is the Bit ok?" Spike asked with a weak voice.

"Will, I need to tell you something and I know as hard as it's going to be you need to remember that you are severely injured and you need to stay in this bed and get better." Angel started.

"Please don't tell me she's dead. Please don't." Spike said with fear in his voice.

"She's not dead and she's not hurt, physically at least, she's not hurt. She does have a few problems right now. The first being we don't know where she is." Angel said.

"That's okay though we can find her. As long as she's not dead then everything is fixable." Spike said relieved that Dawn was still alive and hadn't been killed while he was getting tortured by Buffy and Riley.

"That's right. She does have some problems though. Two months ago she stopped going to school. Tara didn't know until a week ago. A social worker came to the house to speak to Buffy. She wasn't there, only Tara was. She spoke to the worker and the worker was going to have Buffy's guardianship removed. Tara tried to see if she would allow her to have guardianship, but the worker denied her right away. Tara doesn't know when Dawn was at the house last. She hasn't really seen her in two months between her schedule. Tara assumed that Dawn was going to school. Dawn forged Buffy's signature on some school papers to change the phone number so there were no messages left at the house. She did see that Dawn had a brand new black mustang convertible two months ago. Her boyfriend probably gave it to her."

"She's gonna be with him. That Janice bird probably knows where he lives." Spike said with anger edging his weak voice.

"Gunn and Tara are leaving in a few minutes to go to Sunnydale and start looking. Will, Tara went into Dawn's room after the social worker left. She found that most of her clothes were gone and that she clearly hadn't been sleeping there or much at all. Probably within the past two months. She also found little baggies from drugs, some still had some left in them. She brought them and they are from cocaine and one had some MDA mixed into it."

"I knew she was doing drugs. I could tell she was lying. I was hopin' it wasn't that often though." Spike said sadly.

"She also found a report from a free clinic here in L.A from almost four months ago. Dawn came down here and got an abortion." Angel said gently.

"What? No she wouldn't do that. She wouldn't be that stupid to get pregnant and just get rid of it. She would have told me. She knows she can tell me anythin'. I would have talked to her about it. I would have taken her if that was her choice. There's some mistake." Spike said with hurt all throughout his voice.

"I'm sorry Tara brought the report I read it my sweet Childe. She did get an abortion without telling anyone. Tara tried to do a locator spell, but Dawn is doing something to block magic from her. Gunn and Tara are going to try and find her through Janice and the boyfriend. Wes is going to call Giles and have him come down here. Buffy is getting worse and not just with you and Dawnie."

"How?"

"The others have noticed that she's been neglecting her Slayer duties. They have been out patrolling instead of her. I guess she has been gambling a lot and working with the Initiative in capturing demons and vampires. The vampire population has gone up Tara was saying. Something needs to be done. Giles needs to know everything that has happened. Wes is going to tell him to come here so we can explain it to him. Tara is going to come back with Gunn to help explain as well. She believes that Buffy came back wrong. Willow and Xander just think she is having a hard time with the trauma of it all. But we all know that's not true."

"What will happen?"

"With Dawn we need to find her first. In the meantime Tara is going to see if Willow will draw up some papers that states that you are her half-brother. The social worker may be willing to let you have guardianship of Dawn so she doesn't end up in a group home for troubled teens. Hopefully that works. For Buffy I don't know. Tara is going to give Wes the exact spell that Willow did and he is going to try to research what could be wrong with Buffy. Giles will as well when he gets here. Wes says we'll have to do some spells on her to see which problem it is. Cordy is researching a legal way we can get Faith out of prison in case we need her help. If we can't fix Buffy there is still the Hellmouth practically unguarded. We'll need Faith."

"Is she reformed?"

"She is I believe. She was going through some stuff when she was younger, we've all been there. I think she is reformed and better now. With some guidance and reassurance I think she will be a great Slayer. She's had a rough life with some friends and positive reassurance then she will live up to her potential. How are you doing with all of this new information?"

"I just want to find her. She could have told me all of this. I wouldn't have gotten mad at her. I love her I would have understood and listened to her. I would have helped her with it. I just want her safe." Spike said sadly.

"We will find her and bring her back safely. I promise you my Childe. We will find her and bring her here where we can help her get back on track. We will find her." Angel said with strength.

"You won't let me go look for her." Spike simply stated.

"I won't let you out of this bed unless it's to shower and even then I'm going to be close by in case you fall. I know you want to go out there and tear the town a part. I want to too. Even if you were healthy enough to leave you can't it's daylight. Tara and Gunn will go and try and find her. If they can't they will be back here in the morning when Giles should be arriving if he's not already here. We will find her. Sunnydale is not that big. The best thing you can do for Dawn right now is eat and sleep. She's going to need you."

Spike gave a small nod knowing that Angel was right. He couldn't do anything for Dawn right now but try and heal up so he could be there for her when they found her.

"You need to eat and then you need to sleep. I'm going to do some research on Dawn and see if I can find anything on her phone to see if I can find a number for this boyfriend."

"You can do that?" Spike asked slightly surprised.

"Cordy showed me how. I might not be able to do it though."

"She has a MySpace page maybe there's a picture or somethin'."

"I'll check. Can you sit up?" Angel asked with a slight concern.

"Why?"

"You need blood."

"If you help me up then I could sit."

Angel moved and gently helped Spike to sit up. He then put his hand on the back of Spike's neck and brought Spike's head down to his neck. Spike didn't even argue. He needed Angel's strong blood in order to heal faster. Spike gently slid his fangs into Angel's neck and took as much blood as he was going to risk in his stomach. Once he was done he felt even more exhausted. Angel helped to lower Spike back down so he was flat on his back. Spike closed his eyes as Angel ran his thumb along Spike's left cheek as he fell asleep. Once Spike was asleep Angel got up and grabbed his laptop and went over to the other side of the bed. He opened it and started to go through it to try and see if he could find something on Dawn that Gunn and Tara could use to locate her.

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Tara and Gunn arrived back at Sunnydale just a few hours later. They headed straight for Janice's house to speak to her about Dawn. They didn't say much on the way to Sunnydale between them. Tara and Gunn didn't really know each other and both were comfortable with the silence between them. They were both just hoping that they would be able to find Dawn and get her to L.A before she did anything else stupid. They pulled up to the house and they both got out.

"Why don't you take the lead and if she gets mouthy I'll take over?" Gunn suggested to Tara.

"Ok." Tara said with a nod.

They headed up the front walk and up to the front door. Once there Tara rang the doorbell and after a moment they heard someone walking to the door and unlocking it. The door opened and Janice was on the other side. She didn't know who Tara or Gunn were so she only opened it part way.

"Yes?" Janice asked with attitude.

"Janice, I'm Tara. I'm a friend of Dawnie's. I'm hoping you would know where she is. We haven't seen or heard from her in two months. We're really worried about her. We were hoping you knew where she was." Tara said calmly.

"Two months eh? And now you are just coming to me to ask if I know where my best friend is? Ya you sound real worried about her." Janice said sarcastically as she crossed her arms across her chest.

"We didn't know she was missing. We have different schedules. We just thought we kept missing her. We need to find her and get her back on track." Tara explained.

"Get her back on track? She's not off track. She tells me everything. Like how none of you cared enough that she was alone all of the time. Or how there was almost never any food in the house. You haven't seen her in two months because you kept missing each other you would think if you cared that you would have made sure you saw her regardless of your schedule. Now you are worried about her well it's too late. She's where people care about her. She's got her own life and I'm not about to let you idiots try and take her away from happiness."

"Listen here girl she's a sixteen year old runaway. You think you got life all figured out you don't. And being around people doing drugs and her getting knocked up and an abortion isn't being happy. She's not safe with that idiot boyfriend of hers and if you think that is happiness then you're as dumb as you sound. Where the hell is she or do we need to get the cops here at your door?" Gunn said having enough of this girl. Even though he agreed with her on part of it. They shouldn't have been waiting around for two months. They should have made sure they saw Dawn, but he couldn't change that now.

"Be my guest call the cops. It doesn't change that I'm not telling you or them. Get the hell off from property." Janice said with anger as she slammed the door in their face.

Gunn banged his fist against the door before they turned to walk back to the car.

"Well that was pointless." Gunn grumbled.

"She was right though about part of it. We should have paid more attention to her. We should have made sure someone was there to see Dawnie in the last two months. Or before that. Spike warned us all and for a little while me and Willow we made sure we were around more. We made sure there was enough food in the house. But our lives got busy with school and work. Any free time we had we spent it with each other. We all just kept assuming Buffy was there seeing Dawn or Spike. We let them both down. No one checked in on Spike all of this time. Over a year he's been raising Dawnie and none of us bothered to check in on him. To be friendly with him. I should have stopped in on him to make sure he had blood and was taking care of himself too. We've all made sure a huge mistake and it was Dawnie and Spike that has been paying for it." Tara said sadly.

"I'm not gonna lie to you, you should have done all of that. I'm not a vampire loving guy. I hate them. I got a crew of runaways and orphan street kids and I trained them to fight the vampires and demons in our area of the city. I hate vamps and all of the destruction and pain they cause. Angel was the first vamp I have ever liked or trusted and it took some time to get used to him. When I found out Spike was in the hotel I was ready to go up there and stake his ass. Angel stopped me. Now after hearing everything he's been through in the last few years I don't think of him as a vamp. He's just this guy that has been taking care of a teenager and being abused and tortured by someone that is supposed to be on his side and protect him. You guys have all ignored and judged him and because of that you didn't take what he said seriously enough or at all. And Dawnie is the one that is paying for that. There's a reason why college students don't raise teenagers. They need more help than someone who can be there every now and then. Buffy should have been there for her, but she's got her own problems. Now we have to find Dawnie and get her better. It's why she needs to be in L.A because we can all be there for her and you guys can still live your lives. None of us are in college and we all work together. Most of us live in that hotel. We can be what you guys can't be for her. It doesn't make any of you bad people it just makes you the wrong people for her right now."

"That still sounds horrible though. We should be the right people for her. We should have been able to figure this out on how to have our own lives and still be there for her. Spike figured it out and he can't be outside in the daylight. There is no reason why four humans couldn't figure out how to raise a teenager together and still live their lives." Tara said sadly and frustrated at herself and the others.

"Maybe not, but that didn't happen. You can't change what happened in the past, all you can do is try and find her and get her the help she needs now. That's what we need to focus on right now. We gotta find her."

"You're right we need to find her. Then we can get her the help she needs. Should we call the police?"

"I think we need to go in and make a missing person's report and have them look for her. After we can drive around until we need to head back to L.A and hopefully Giles will be there. Come on." Gunn said as he went around to the driver side of the car.

They both got into the car and Tara gave the directions to Gunn to get to the police station. Once there they went in and filed a missing person's report. Tara had a photo of Dawn on her phone that the police could use to find her with. After speaking to the police for four hours they headed out and began to drive around to see if they could find Dawn. They checked the Bronze, but she wasn't there. The problem was Dawn had a car so she could have driven to another city for the night or completely moved out of Sunnydale even. They truly didn't know where she was and unless they could figure out what she had done to make it so they couldn't use a locator spell to find her, they didn't know how they were going to find Dawn. It might take longer than they all wanted, but until they could find Dawn they didn't have much of a choice. At six that morning they made the way to the highway to head back to LA without Dawn.

They finally arrived just after eight and both were exhausted and discouraged. They headed inside to see Angel coming down the stairs and Cordelia sitting down with a mug in her hand on the couch with Fred.

"Any luck?" Fred asked with hopefulness in her voice.

"Naw we didn't find her. How's Spike doin?" Gunn asked as they walked into the lobby space.

"He's really worried. He wants to go out and look for her himself. If we don't have anything soon he's not going to just stay in bed much longer. He's too weak to do much right now, but it won't stop him for long." Angel said with worry as he reached the bottom of the stairs.

"Where's Wes at?" Gunn asked.

"He went to go and pick up Giles from the airport. Who apparently thinks we are either lying or have gone insane." Cordelia said as she rolled her eyes.

"He cares very much for Buffy. It won't be easy for him to hear and see what has happened." Tara said.

"What happened?" Angel asked.

"We went to talk to that Janice chic who is kind of a bitch for a sixteen year old. She wouldn't tell us anything. We went and filed a missing person's report at the cop shop. That took four hours and then we went all over Sunnydale trying to find her. We came up with nothing. She's got a car she could be anywhere with this dude for all we know." Gunn said frustrated that he didn't have more for Angel.

"We've been checking her Myspace account and anyone from the high school, we've come up empty. I called her school and they couldn't tell me much because I'm not a guardian, but basically she hasn't been to any classes in two months and even before then it was sketchy. She hasn't really been going regularly since her mom died. Since Buffy died she went to summer school to make up some courses and that seemed to be going well. It was shaky at first, but it got better and she made up the courses. Ever since Buffy has been back she's slowly going downhill and now since the boyfriend she's gone completely out of control." Cordelia said.

"So she's in with the wrong crowd, but we knew that with the drugs and the abortion clinic." Gunn said.

"When will Giles and Wesley be back?" Tara asked.

"Soon Wes left an hour ago so within fifteen minutes they should be back. There's coffee in the kitchen and some food help yourself." Cordelia said with a smile.

"Thanks." Tara said with a shy smile.

"Come on, I don't know about you, but I need some fuel before this next step of fun." Gunn said.

They both headed to the kitchen and Cordelia look over at Angel.

"How is our boy really doing?"

"He's stressed and that is making his body even weaker. We need to have something for him. He has done all of this for Dawn, to keep her safe and in that house where Joyce wanted her to be. Now she is missing, has been really for two months and he just wants to go out there and find her."

"He can't though, he's in no shape to be moving around let alone out there on the streets looking for Dawnie. Gunn is right she has a car, she could be anywhere right now. We don't even know if she's in the state." Cordelia said.

"Couldn't we do some kind of magic to remove whatever is blocking us from finding her?" Fred asked.

"Wesley and Giles would be the ones to ask that question. All I know is there is a sixteen year old out there on her own doing drugs and Spike is upstairs ready to go hit the streets to find her. I can keep him up there for a week, but after having my blood for that long he'll have the strength to get out of bed. I don't know if I can keep him here after that. We need something to go off of so we can find her before Spike sneaks out one night to do it himself." Angel said.

"And how long will it take before Buffy and Riley figure out he's not in Sunnydale anymore? Riley saw you, it's not going to take a genius to figure out that you took Spike out of there. How long before one of them shows up here?" Cordelia asked.

"I don't know. It would be stupid for them to show up here, either one of them. We don't know anything about this new Initiative either. We need more information on all of this." Angel said as he ran his hands over his face.

"Once Wes and Giles get here we can go over everything and try to find out some information. We've gotten very good at getting information in the past we can do this." Cordelia said.

Gunn and Tara came back out into the lobby area with a coffee and some toast. They hadn't eaten much at all yesterday from looking around for Dawn and they were both hungry. They went over and sat down on the couches as Angel leaned against the back of the couch that Cordelia was sitting down on.

"Janice didn't tell you anything?" Angel asked Gunn and Tara.

"Naw she said if we cared then we would have been there two months earlier asking about her. Even if she knows where Dawnie is she's not gonna tell us. The cops said they would talk to her, but you can't make her talk. She's sixteen she can just say she doesn't know anything." Gunn said.

"Could we follow her?" Fred asked.

"Maybe, but there's no guarantee that she will lead us to Dawnie." Gunn said.

"So what do we do?" Fred asked sadly.

"There must be only so many talisman or spells a beginner can do to make it so we can't use a locator spell to find her. If we can figure out what she did then we could find out how to break it so we can locate her with magic." Angel said.

"Except if it is a talisman, she could have easily of gotten it from the Magic Shop and a talisman has to be broken physically to break the spell. We wouldn't be able to use magic to break it." Tara explained sadly.

"Do you know if there is such a thing in the Magic Shop and if it's missing?" Angel asked.

"I can ask Anya she would know by looking at the inventory." Tara said.

"Can you call her and check?" Cordelia asked.

"Of course." Tara said as she pulled out her cell phone.

"Did you see anyone down there?" Angel asked Gunn.

"No we didn't run into anyone." Gunn answered.

"I sent Willow a text message letting her know that I was here and you were going to try and help us find Dawnie." Tara said as she held the phone up to her ear listening to the ringing. After a moment the answering machine kicked in. "Anya it's Tara, I need you to call my cell when you get this. I was wondering if Dawnie maybe took a talisman from the shop, something that she could wear that would block us from finding her with magic. If you could check and call me back I would appreciate it. Thanks." Tara ended the call and spoke to the group. "She is normally not there until nine. She always checks the messages first thing."

"Good at least we will know if Dawn has a talisman or did some basic spell. I doubt the boyfriend would know how." Angel said.

The door opened and they all turned to look and see Wesley and Giles walking into the hotel. Giles didn't look happy at all. He had a duffle bag in his hand and he placed it down on the floor as he walked over to them.

"I refuse to believe this nonsense." Giles started with anger, but Angel cut him off.

"You refuse? That's the problem everyone refuses to see what the hell is going on and now Spike and Dawn are the ones paying for it. I don't want to hear it. Giles you obviously believed part of it for you to get on a plane and fly eight hours here and you didn't do it just to hear what you believe to be lies. We are the ones that have been putting up with this for months, Spike is the one that has been putting up with this for over a year. So you are going to sit down and shut up and listen to us before you start making assumptions. I'm done with this shit." Angel said with anger and his eyes flashed back and forth between brown and yellow.

"There is a lot that has happened that we've bene blind to." Tara said gently.

Giles let out a deep sigh before he went and sat down on the couch. Wesley went and sat down beside Fred before Giles spoke.

"I suggest you start at the beginning then." Giles said with a tightness to his voice.

"And where would that be exactly?" Wesley asked with his own annoyance.

"When I left just after Halloween. I assumed everything was going well when I didn't hear from anyone." Giles said.

"When Buffy died and you left we didn't live up to expectations. We were all grieving and focused on our own lives and then how to bring Buffy back that we forgot about Dawnie. We never told you, because it never came up in conversation and you never asked. We all were just so happy to have Buffy back we forgot about what Spike did for all of us." Tara started.

"You and Willow moved into Buffy's house though to look after Dawn. So I don't understand how you weren't looking after her or what Spike has to do with it. I know he stayed and patrolled for whatever reason that he did." Giles said not truly understanding everything.

"He made a promise to Buffy when they went to get weapons before the big fight. She asked him to look after Dawn and protect her and he promised he would until the end of the world. That first month he was a wreck and not really taking care of himself. Dawnie went and saw him during that month and Spike found out that the bills hadn't been paid and there wasn't much food in the house. Willow and me still had school and work we didn't pay attention. The bills were a mess from Joyce's hospital bills and death and then Buffy's death. We didn't have a good grasps on it. Then we weren't in the house every night. Xander and Anya were focused on the shop and Xander had work. Everyone got so busy with their lives we fell behind and Dawnie went under the radar. After that first month Spike stopped drinking all of the time and started to get better. He paid the back payment on the mortgage which turned out to be more than just one month, Buffy hadn't been paying the bills after Joyce died. He paid the bills every months after that and made sure there was food in the house. He was there in the morning to get Dawnie off to school and was there at night when she got home from school. He cooked dinner and helped her with her homework." Tara said.

"Spike did? The vampire without the soul was the one to look after a teenage girl and not the group of humans that were Buffy's friends like it should have been. Are you telling me that Spike was the one to raise Dawn for almost five months and not who I expected to be there for her?" Giles asked with anger edging his voice.

"Watch it." Angel said with a slight growl.

"I don't mean that against Spike. I appreciate him staying and protecting everyone and patrolling. I expected more from the others. He shouldn't have been put in that position. It was supposed to be the other's responsibility to look after Dawn. It was supposed to be mine. But I left I can't change that. I failed that night to keep my Slayer safe and alive. I left and that is on my conscience, but I expected more from the humans in the group." Giles clarified.

"We were all grieving and so focused on bringing Buffy back that we forgot about Dawnie. We let Spike take over that part without even thinking about it. Willow and me should have been the ones to focus on the bills and Dawnie. Willow said the bills were being taken care of I just assumed it was from life insurance or money from the gallery that was outstanding. I didn't know it was Spike paying everything until a few months ago." Tara said.

"And when Buffy returned?" Giles asked clearly not happy that he had been left out of this loop for so long.

"Spike was still the one paying the bills. You know what happened up until you left again. Afterwards though she and Spike started to have this relationship." Tara said slightly uncomfortable.

"What type of relationship?" Giles asked tightly.

"They were having sex." Cordelia said for Tara with a smile.

"Buffy initiated it, every time. Before they were hanging out and friends and then once Buffy kissed Spike and then had sex with Spike she changed almost overnight. She stopped coming by to hang out and talk. She didn't want Dawn at his crypt anymore. Buffy didn't want him around her unless it was when she came to him for sex. She was using the sex as a way of release from the anger she felt towards her friends for pulling her out of Heaven. That eventually escalated to her physically beating up Spike. And Spike couldn't hit back so he had no choice, but to take the beatings. She would show up the next night looking for makeup sex. A few times when Spike wasn't in the mood or too beat up and said no she did it anyways. Once she got off she would kick him or punch him and leave." Angel explained with anger in his voice.

"And you heard this from where exactly?" Giles asked with anger as he looked right at Angel.

"From Spike when he showed up here seconds away from burning up in the sun roughly five months ago. She had beaten him up in an alley when he tried to stop her from going to the police when she believed she killed someone. Turns out she didn't, but she left him there on the ground without a second thought. He came here to hide out from the sun and I couldn't turn him away, not with how injured he was. He was covered in bruises, all of his ribs were broken. He had internal injuries so severe I had to give him some of my blood before he died from them. He was unconscious for five days afterwards and I continued to give him my blood and he still wouldn't wake up. He stayed for two weeks before he went back. He was thin, exhausted and breaking. He told me what had been going on since the last that I had heard. Which is something else we need to discuss. But he told me everything and I believed him, I do believe him. He wasn't lying about anything he said or had been through. He was making excuses for her. He sounded exactly like an abuse victim." Angel said.

"You don't want to hear any of this about Buffy. She is your Slayer, you love her very much like you would a daughter, but you need to hear this. This is the truth. We all saw Spike five months ago when he came here. These are not lies or some game he is playing." Wesley said.

"If he was that injured why did he go back after two weeks?" Giles asked.

"He went back to be there for Dawnie. He was still paying the bills even though Buffy was working she wasn't taking care of Dawnie. Two weeks later he came here with Dawnie for the weekend. He was beat up again from Buffy and it wasn't as bad as the last time, but still bad enough that he had to get away and be some place where people care about him. Buffy was going away that weekend so he brought Dawnie here." Cordelia said.

"Dawnie asked Willow if she could go and she thought it would be fine. We were also going to be gone that weekend so Dawnie would be with Spike and not with Xander. We assumed she was going to be with Xander, but we don't really know if Buffy thought of anything." Tara said.

"She stayed the weekend and I did what I could to cheer her up. Spike was with Angel trying to rest and heal up. I took her out sight-seeing and some shopping on the Saturday. Sunday we all relaxed here and we got to know her better and she got to know us better. She was really happy, she couldn't stop smiling." Cordelia said.

"That Sunday night Spike brought Dawnie back and he dropped her off at the house before he came and to the Magic Shop. He basically yelled at us to be paying more attention to Dawnie. He gave us a wakeup call. At least Willow and me. Xander thought he was lying to get attention from Buffy. We had no idea that Buffy wasn't providing Dawnie with food. We hadn't really been there much. Willow got into using too much magic and we broke up for a little while. So I moved out. After Willow got into a car crash with Dawnie and they were attacked by a demon did she realise that she was using too much magic and in too deep. She stopped completely that night and she hasn't done any in six months now." Tara said.

"I had no idea. No one told me that she was abusing her powers. I spoke to her when she brought Buffy back from the dead that she was stupid for doing it. I thought it would have been a wakeup call, especially after her forgetting spell. Were they injured?" Giles asked.

"Dawnie hurt her arm and there was a few bumps and bruises, but nothing extreme. Buffy and Spike were there to stop the demon and get Dawnie looked at." Tara explained.

"Well I am not glad to hear that, but I am glad to hear that Willow has stopped using her magic, though that brings out another issue entirely." Giles said.

"Which is?" Fred asked.

"Someone as powerful as Willow completely stopping magic doesn't work in the long term sense. The power continues to grow whether you use it or not. Eventually something horrific could happen that would channel a strong emotion to surface, such as the loss of someone she loved. That could bring forth her power and without it being trained she could go off the deep end and destroy her core self. With someone as powerful as Willow she needs to be trained properly by someone with strong and powerful abilities so Willow has complete control of her magic even in extreme situations. I will need to speak to her about it and get her some help on that front. She has long since surpassed me." Giles explained.

"As much as I like Willow she is not our main concern right now." Angel said.

"Yes it would appear so. Please continue." Giles said.

"After Spike left the Magic Shop Willow and me went home to see how Dawnie was doing. Buffy was angry that Dawnie went to LA with Spike she thought that Spike was getting too close to Dawnie. That maybe he was grooming her to be with him. We told her that he looked at her like a sister and would never do anything to hurt her or put her in danger. She grounded Dawnie for going without her permission even though she had Willow's. She told Dawnie she couldn't see Spike anymore and Dawnie told her that she hated her and went to her room. Willow and me got Buffy to calm down and to talk to Spike about ground rules so Dawnie could still see him. That night I went to check in on Dawnie, but she left out of her window she didn't come back that night." Tara said.

"Where did she go?" Giles asked.

"I thought she was with Spike, but the next day she came in and looked to delete a message from her school off the machine. I had already got it and deleted it before Buffy heard it. She had skipped school. We sat down and talked. She told me she was with Janice that night and she skipped school because she was too upset with Buffy. She told me that the weekend she spent here was the most fun she had had in a long time. She felt like a normal girl for the first time since she found out she was the Key. Only to come home to Buffy yelling at her the second she walked through the door. Willow and me stayed around more. We watched movies and made dinners. We tried to balance everything, but then with our work schedule and school schedule we lost track of Dawnie and the time we would spend together went down." Tara said.

"Angel and me went up there that weekend to see Dawnie and Spike. Spike had talked to Dawnie about some stuff and he was feeling down. Which is something else we have to explain after. The point in that was the last time we saw Dawnie and Spike up until last night." Cordelia said.

"None of us have even really heard from either of them. Cordelia was texting with Dawn off and on, until three months ago when it completely stopped on Dawn's end. Angel didn't really hear from Spike much either and only through texts." Wesley said.

"We got busy and we couldn't go down there. Finally last night I had enough and I went down to see him. Riley is back in town with the Initiative, he's been there for almost five months now. Him and Buffy are back together. They both started to torture Spike and take money from him. I found him in his crypt in the bottom he was in a dog crate big enough for a medium size dog. He had a collar and a leash that was attached to the floor. He was brutally beaten, tortured, starved and had a cross with a spell on it around his neck that made it so it couldn't be removed. It was on him for months, it burned right through all the way down to his bones. His ribs and chest plate are broken, he weighs less than a hundred pounds. They both had been torturing him and raping him. They had chained him up to his bed and had other demons and vampires pay to rape him." Angel said with anger.

"What?" Giles asked with shock and disgust on his face.

"For over a year in order to take care of Dawn Spike has been working at a demon brothel to pay the bills. Riley and Buffy found out and they used that to get money out of Spike. Thousands and thousands of dollars a month out of him by taking it from him or chaining him up and having demons pay them. Demons that were refused by the brothel for being too dangerous and violent. They made him drink expired blood from a dog dish. He had to lick it out. Before that Buffy told Spike that if he wanted to see Dawn he would have to pay two grand a week to see her and he could only see her for eight hours a week. He also had to keep paying all of the bills and anything else she came up with." Angel said as his eyes went yellow once again.

"This…that…" Giles was shocked into silence.

"What she wouldn't do that? Spike's lying because he's a vamp and he's making it all up?" Gunn asked with anger.

"No, no Spike would never make up anything like that. He would lie and say it wasn't Buffy. I'm not saying what you have been told is a lie. I just don't understand how this has been going on and no one called me. I don't understand what has been happening to her." Giles said confused and upset.

"Neither do we. We didn't know this was going on. We've all been so busy with work and school we've been so blind to everything." Tara said with shame in her voice.

"The cross, were you able to remove it?" Giles asked Angel.

"I did a reversal spell to remove the cross. Though, it is unclear if it will scar or not." Wesley said.

"And Spike is here?" Giles asked Angel.

"He's up in my room. He's very weak and in pain. They broke him. He wanted me to kill him, he begged me to kill him, but I won't. He believes he deserved it and that he's worthless and doesn't matter. They did something that not even Angelus could do, they broke him and now I have to try and pick up the pieces and put him back together." Angel answered.

Giles let out a sigh and he removed his glasses and cleaned them as he tried to get his mind on track with all of the information given to him.

"What has become of Dawn?" Giles asked as he put his glasses back on.

"That's a bit of a long story itself." Wesley said sadly.

"What's happened?" Giles asked with worry.

"When she was down here for that weekend when we went to lunch I got her talking about her life. She told me how Buffy had been ignoring her and how everyone has been treating her like a little kid." Cordelia started.

"She told Spike that she feels like she doesn't really exist. She's struggling with her origins. She feels like everyone thought she should have died that night and not Buffy, that they are blaming her for everything Buffy went through." Angel said.

"I've never blamed her for anything that happened. Buffy made her choice to jump off that tower to save Dawn. I have always respected that. I admit I shouldn't have left like that. I should have stayed and dealt with my own guilt and grief and stayed to look after Dawn. It's what I should have done and what Buffy would have expected of me. However, I never blamed Dawn for any of it. She didn't ask to be made what happened is not her fault." Giles said with strength in his voice.

"And that is what Spike told her. That no matter how she was made doesn't change that she is human and deserves the life that she was granted." Angel said.

"When I got Dawnie talking at lunch she told me about how she had a boyfriend. All I know is that his name is Jake and he's in College. She meet him when she went to a college party with Janice and her boyfriend. They got drunk and played strip poker and that night her and Jake slept together. During those two weeks since Spike left the first time she had seen Jake a lot. They continued to have sex and even went to a hotel the four of them and had a private group party if you get my drift." Cordelia said.

"Good lord." Giles said horrified.

"I've been trying to keep in touch with Dawnie, but through texts it's a little hard when the other person won't text back or even answer calls. It's been almost four months now really since I've been able to truly talk to her. I haven't heard anything from her at all in three months. We've tried to call two nights ago, but it's a changed number now. Her Myspace page is also a bust." Cordelia said.

"A few days ago, five roughly now. A social worker came to the house looking for Buffy. I was the only one there and she spoke to me about Dawnie. She hasn't been at school in two months. Dawnie forged Buffy's signature on a change of phone number form so when the school called it wouldn't go to the house. She hasn't been in any classes in two months. They've been calling the number, but no one called back obviously. The social worker wants to remove Dawnie from Buffy's care and place her in a group home for trouble youth. I asked if I could become Dawnie's guardian, but she refused the idea. She doesn't think it would be a good idea to take Dawnie from where one person is looking after her and placing her in the same situation. Once the social worker left I went up to Dawnie's room to try and figure out why she hasn't been in school. Almost all of her clothes were gone. I also found baggies of drugs that Angel discovered to be cocaine. I also found a clinic report from an abortion here in LA that was four months ago roughly. Dawnie has been doing drugs, drinking and having unprotected sex that lead to her being pregnant. She got an abortion done down here. She also has a car, a black mustang convertible that her boyfriend probably got for her." Tara explained.

"I… I don't know what to say to any of that. I know the memories of her when she was younger are not real, but they still feel real. I can't imagine that sweet little girl who used to hide around corners with her notebooks trying to spy on everyone turning to drugs and this troubled. Where is Buffy in all of this? If she is not working any longer how has she not noticed that Dawn is not there in two months?" Giles asked shocked and concerned.

"She's been with Riley. They went to Hawaii for a week. She has been working with the Initiative too. She hasn't been patrolling anymore. She works on capturing the demons and vampires and bringing them back to the Initiative. Spike has been kept in his crypt by Buffy and Riley so he wasn't out patrolling either. We've been trying to keep up, but we're just humans and we can't go as long as Buffy normally can and we're not that good. She's barely been home and when she is we don't really talk. The group is torn. Willow and Xander think that she has PTSD from everything that happened to her and she is just struggling with the trauma. Anya and myself we believe that she came back different or wrong. Her aura doesn't even feel or look the same as it did before." Tara said.

"When Tara couldn't find Spike she came here yesterday morning and we explained everything to her and she did the same for us. Dawn has been missing technically for two months now. Tara and Gunn went to Sunnydale yesterday after we were all informed and spoke to Janice, but she refused to tell them anything. They reported Dawn missing to the police and continued to look until early this morning when they drove back here to speak with you." Wesley said.

"We can do a locator spell on Dawn to find her." Giles said.

"I already tried. She has a talisman or did a spell around herself to block the locator spell. I called Anya and left a message at the shop asking her to check and to call me back." Tara said.

"Our first propriety is finding Dawn. But once we do I do not know what will happen. She can't stay with Buffy obviously, but a group home is not going to help her at all." Giles said.

"I want her down here with us. We can keep an eye on her and being down here she is away from that boyfriend and any problems she is getting herself into. Tara is going to check with Willow to see if she can make papers for Spike to be Buffy's half-brother. They can both be living here and Dawnie can go to school and get her life back on track. Its been made clear that the others are not up the looking after Dawn and getting her back on track." Angel said.

"I'm not going to argue that point. If she is in a bad crowd, which it sounds like she is, then being out of Sunnydale would be the best thing for her. We need to locate Dawn and we need to find out more about the Initiative now and what is wrong with Buffy. I don't agree that it is trauma, I believe something happened when the spell was interrupted. We need to try and figure out what that could be." Giles said.

"We need to do research on the spell. Tara has provided me with the exact spell that Willow performed. I have been doing research to see what could have gone wrong with the spell, but it is not simple as most would never perform the spell to begin with. We will probably have to do a spell on Buffy to see what went wrong." Wesley said.

"Which I do not see her being willing to do based on what I have heard from you. Having Riley in the mix again causes even more of a problem." Giles said.

"Our main priority is finding Dawn right now. Once we have Dawn back safe and where we can keep an eye on her then we can worry about Buffy and the Initiative." Angel said.

"Of course I agree. Dawn needs to be found first and foremost. Afterwards we can gather information on the Initiative and try and find out what is wrong with Buffy." Giles said.

"We are working on a legal way to get Faith out of prison just in case we need any extra muscle if Buffy decides to come after any of us. We truly don't know where her loyalties lay. She could have the Initiative come after all of us for all we know. Especially once she finds out that Dawn will be here with all of us and Spike." Wesley said.

"Can Faith be trusted?" Giles asked.

"I think she is reformed, she is just in need of some encouragement and the chance to show what she is worth. I think she is ready for this and being here is a good thing for her instead of Sunnydale. We all know what it is like to be judged and make mistakes. We won't hold it against her." Angel said.

"Yes the others in Sunnydale might not be as forgiving. Do the others know that I am here?" Giles asked.

"I didn't tell anyone. Willow is the only one that knows I'm here. I didn't think it was a good idea to tell them that you would be here just in case you didn't come or they got mad that you were coming here and not down there." Tara said just as her phone rang.

She picked it up and saw that it was Anya.

"Hello." Tara answered.

"So I have gone through my inventory and there is a coin talisman missing. It's not very expensive, but it will block the owner from any magic being done on them or to them if the owner has it on them. It would have been easy for Dawn to lift it without anyone noticing that it was missing. There are other items that are missing as well. Necklaces and small things that can go into your pocket. None are very expensive, but it's adding up so far to five hundred dollars' worth that is missing so far." Anya said annoyed and unhappy.

"Oh I'm sorry Anya. Do you know what the coin was called?" Tara asked sadly.

"It doesn't have a special name, it's just a coin that was blessed by a coven to turn it magical and protect the owner from magic. It's about the size of a silver dollar." Anya said.

"Ok well I will be on my way back in shortly and we can all talk and try to find Dawnie and get to the bottom of all of this. Thanks for looking."

"I'm going to go through all of my inventory and see what else is missing. So far nothing could be used for bad in the wrong hands so she got lucky there if she is selling this stuff on her own. I plan on having a very long conversation with her when we do find her." Anya said with anger.

"I'm sure there will be a long line for people that want to talk to her about some things. I'll see you at the shop in a few hours."

"Ya okay." Anya said and ended the call.

Tara put her phone down as she spoke. "Dawnie took a magical coin about the size of a silver dollar. There isn't a name for it it's just blessed by a coven to protect the owner from magic being done on them or to them. As long as Dawnie has it on her somewhere she is blind to magic. Anya also said there was about five hundred dollars' worth of items missing. They are all small enough to put in your pocket, necklaces and such. She is still going through the inventory list, but so far nothing dangerous is missing." Tara explained sadly.

"So she's stealing as well. Maybe to fund her drug habit." Wesley suggested.

"Maybe, but if Dawnie's boyfriend gave her a new mustang convertible I can't imagine he is charging her for cocaine. Maybe she was doing it before the boyfriend and he got her really going or she's doing it out of habit." Cordelia said.

"If she is stealing from the Magic Shop it's possible that she is stealing from other shops as well. She may owe a lot of business owners." Wesley said.

"We can find out once we find her. All of this started after Buffy came back from the dead. She was struggling after Buffy died, but Spike was there almost all of the time and got her back on track with school. She was in summer school and she went and did her homework and made up those courses. Once Buffy came back she couldn't see Spike as much and he wasn't there all the time to make sure she was doing her homework. She could have been stealing for almost a year now." Angel said.

"Yes well that is not something we will know until we find Dawn and ask her about it. What did the police say?" Giles asked Tara and Gunn.

"It's been two months and she is labeled as a runaway. They asked about her family and we did say that Spike or William, was Buffy's half-brother, but we didn't have contact information for him. They said they would ask Janice questions, but they can't make her talk if she refuses to tell them the truth. They will ask around with her classmates and see if they can find her." Tara said.

"But she does have a car so she could be anywhere by now for all we know." Gunn added.

"Yes that is a problem isn't it. Do we know the plates of the car?" Giles asked.

"No we don't. And we can't do a locator spell on an object." Tara said.

"What about this boyfriend? Can we find him?" Giles asked.

"We don't know a last name and we don't have anything of his to use a locator spell. We don't even know if he does go to college or if he's just of that age." Tara said.

"So it would appear we are at a standstill here." Giles said frustrated already.

"So it appears." Wesley said.

"How is Spike doing?" Giles asked Angel.

"He is worried about Dawn. He's too injured right now to be moving around and that is the only thing keeping him in bed. He is getting my blood and I am making sure he sleeps and heals. Like I said before you arrived I can only keep him in that bed for a week at most right now. Once he is healed enough to walk around he will be out of here and back in Sunnydale to find her." Angel said.

"That I do not see going over well. We need to be ready for when we do find Dawn and Buffy discovers she is here with Spike. She won't legally be able to take Dawn away, but if she is as far gone as you say then it will not matter. She could come down here with Riley, the Initiative or just herself. We need to be prepared for anything." Giles said.

"I can put up wards for nonviolence so no one can come in and force anyone to leave or harm anyone as long as they are in the building." Wesley said.

"We should do that. At least everyone will be safe in here." Angel said.

"We can do research on the Initiative and see if we can find anything." Fred said.

"I will as well when I get to Sunnydale. Do you know where it is located?" Giles asked.

"No just that Spike said it wasn't in Sunnydale, but close enough for Riley to be living in Sunnydale." Angel said.

"So that narrows down the possibilities. We can look for any area that is using a large amount of power and was recently renovated. If that does not work we can do a spell that will focus on large amounts of demon energy and we can locate the facility that way." Giles said.

"And if they are up to their old tricks?" Gunn asked.

"Then we will need to shut them down. We may have to work with the Council in order to get enough military support to shut them down for good. For now we need all of the information we can get on them." Giles said.

"We'll research and see what we can find." Wesley said.

"The police are looking for Dawn, but we also need to be out looking for her and asking around. Maybe we can find this Jake fellow or some of his associates." Giles said.

"That's the priority especially before Spike upstairs is well enough to steal a set of keys and make it out of here." Cordelia said.

"Yes well if there is nothing else we need to discuss I will head to a rental car company and get down to Sunnydale. Tara, are you coming back as well?" Giles asked.

"I am yes. I have classes and I want to be looking for Dawnie." Tara said.

"I can drive you to a rental company." Wesley said.

"Thank-you." Giles said.

"We'll keep in touch on our end and let you know what we find." Angel said.

"We will as well. When we hear from the police we will call you or if we find her." Giles said.

"Hopefully that will be soon." Cordelia said with concern.

"I hope so as well. Are you ready to leave Tara?" Giles asked calmly.

"Yes I am. I just came down to talk to Angel to see if he had known where Spike was. I'm ready to get home and look for Dawnie."

"Thank-you for coming to tell us." Angel said to Tara.

"I'm sorry it's taken so long." Tara said.

"We know now and now we can find her and focus on getting her better." Angel said trying not to hold any of this against Tara as she was one of the adults in the situation.

"We'll be in touch." Giles said as he stood up.

Angel gave a nod and Tara and Wesley headed out with Giles. Once the door closed Angel spoke.

"Cordy, keep trying to find ways to get Faith out of prison legally. I don't want to have to break her out unless we have no other choice. Gunn start looking into the college and Dawn's high school. We need to find anyone with the name Jake or any classmates of hers. Find their Myspace accounts and see if you can find any photo with Dawn in them. We need all of the information we can get to try and track her down. Fred, focus on the Initiative and see what you can dig up. I'll get Lorne in on this and he can ask around in the demon community. Maybe some escaped or had a close run-in with one of the soldiers. When Wes gets back he can focus on the spell used on Buffy. I'll look into other cities and see if Dawnie ran into the law or was in the hospital in the last two months." Angel said.

"Oh check that free clinic she would have had to leave an address and a phone number, maybe they will give it to you." Cordelia said.

"I'll check and see, but they probably won't without a badge. I'll try though." Angel said.

"We'll find her Angel. If she's still in Sunnydale she can only hide out for so long before someone sees her. We'll find her." Gunn said trying to sound comforting.

"I hope so. I really don't want Spike going back there. Let's get to work I'll be up there with the laptop if you need me." Angel said as he moved away from the couch and headed towards the stairs.

The others got up and headed to their own computers or laptop to get to work on finding Dawn and any information they can get on the Initiative. Angel grabbed his laptop from his office and headed upstairs to his room. He quietly walked inside and saw that Spike was still asleep. He was resting and drinking more blood now, because he wanted to be strong enough so he could go out and find Dawn. Angel closed the door and went over to the empty side of the bed. He sat down with his back against the headboard with his laptop in his lap. He began to go through it to see if he could find Dawn. The sooner they found her the better everyone would be.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Giles and Tara arrived at the Magic Shop just after eleven that morning. They didn't say much on the trip back to Sunnydale, because Giles was very upset and disappointed with Tara and everyone else for ignoring Dawn and the signs of something being wrong with Buffy. It shouldn't have just come down to Spike taking care of Dawn and paying the bills when he didn't even live there. Giles never expected to be feeling respect for Spike and yet he found himself having a great deal of respect for Spike for everything he did for Dawn in the past year and a bit. Now the situation was very out of control and Spike was seriously injured, Dawn was missing for two months and Buffy has been spiralling out of control. All of this could have been avoided if the others had paid attention in the first place.

They arrived at the Magic Shop and Giles parked in the parking space out front. They got out and headed inside. Willow and Xander were sitting at the table while Anya was behind the counter. They were surprised and shocked to see Giles coming into the shop with Tara.

"Giles, man what are you doing here?" Xander asked with shock in his voice.

"Wesley called me and it should have been one of you that called me long ago. I just spent almost an hour listening to what has been happening here since Buffy has been brought back. Things that were kept from me even when I did come back when Buffy first returned. I can honestly say I have never been more disappointed in you all since the moment I have met you." Giles said with anger in his voice.

Tara went and sat down next to Willow as Willow spoke.

"I don't understand it's not our fault that Dawnie is going down the wrong road." Willow said calmly.

"Not your fault? Then whose fault is it? You are all of the adults in this situation whether you wanted to be or not you are. You had a responsibility to that girl to be there for her and look after her and you have all let her down. You allowed Spike, a vampire without a soul, to look after Dawn when it should have been you all doing it. Spike shouldn't have to of been the one paying the bills and being there all the time helping with homework and cooking dinners. I am impressed and amazed at what Spike has gone through just to help Dawn, when you all have been ignoring her and forgetting all about her and basic needs like food and shelter. You all should be ashamed of yourselves. If you had paid attention and listened to Spike's warnings about Dawn being on her own and something wrong with Buffy this could have all been prevented. Instead Spike is seriously injured from Buffy torturing him practically for months on end, Dawn is missing for two months, has been using drugs and had an abortion four months ago. Not to mention Buffy is now back with Riley and working for the Initiative capturing demons and vampires. And none of you thought to call me to inform me of the situation. Wesley had to. You all should be ashamed of yourselves." Giles said with anger and disappointment in his voice.

"What do you mean Buffy has been torturing Spike? Where did that come from?" Xander asked with anger.

"Really that is your concern? I would have thought you would be more concerned with the part of Dawn using drugs and getting an abortion at sixteen." Anya said in her usual tone.

"And where did that even come from? Spike spreading lies about Buffy to get attention because she doesn't want anything to do with him." Xander said angry.

"He's not lying. I found the baggies of drugs in Dawnie's room with the free clinic report for the abortion. Spike is seriously injured and has been a few times in the past because of Buffy beating him so badly. She's been abusing him and her and Riley had been torturing him for months straight now. Spike wouldn't lie about something like that. He would lie to cover it up, not to make it up. You know Spike would never make up a lie about being weak and Riley hurting him. He would deny it only he couldn't this time around because Angel found him. He's seriously hurt and in a great deal of pain on many levels." Tara said sadly.

"I still don't buy it. Buffy is my best friend, we've been fighting beside each other since we were sixteen. I know she's having problems right now, but come on do we really believe she would go that far?" Xander asked with less anger in his voice.

"She has Xander. I don't want to admit it either, but she has." Tara said sadly.

"Spike wouldn't lie about something like that. Tara is right he would never willingly admit to being hurt by Riley. He has to be in a lot of pain and misery to even admit it to Angel. I just…I don't understand what is wrong with Buffy. She's traumatised I know, but shouldn't she be getting over it by now and not getting worse?" Willow asked with concern.

"The spell was interrupted maybe you did screw it up." Anya said without sympathy in her voice.

"Ahn." Xander warned.

"What it's true." Anya simply said.

"It is a very real possibility that even if you weren't interrupted the spell could have gone wrong. It was why you didn't inform me of this spell. It is also why you didn't want Spike knowing. You knew that if Spike found out he wouldn't have let you perform the spell. He hates magic he would have made sure you checked where Buffy was first before even entertaining the idea of doing a spell. You didn't want him to know so you wouldn't have to listen to him. Unfortunately in this situation Spike would have been right. His hatred of magic would have come in handy. Wesley is going to research the spell and we are going to do the same. We need to find out what is wrong with Buffy and how to reverse it if it is even possible. For now we need to find Dawn. Tara and Gunn filed a missing person's report last night and they spoke with Janice. Janice wouldn't tell them anything. Dawn also has a car and a boyfriend, but we only know his name is Jake." Giles said.

"Well he must be into partying and popular with the wrong crowd for Dawn to have gotten drugs and knocked up. Plus I finished the inventory and a thousand dollars' worth of items were stolen. That can probably be contributed to the boyfriend." Anya said.

"A thousand dollars?" Willow asked shocked.

"In small pocket items." Anya said.

"As much as I hate to suggest this, maybe we should take her picture to the mall and shops around town to see if anyone recognizes her. But we might find out that she has been stealing from other places as well." Willow said sadly.

"You do that. Xander, you go to the college and see if anyone knows a man named Jake that is a partier. We may be able to find someone that knows him and he may lead us to Dawn. Dawn has a talisman so we can't use magic to find her we will have to do it the old fashioned way."

"Got it. I'll also show a picture of Dawnie maybe someone knows her from a party." Xander said.

"Yes good. Tara, you have been up all night from traveling and looking for Dawn. I suggest you go home and get some rest before you fall over." Giles said calmly.

"I'll be okay to keep looking." Tara said.

"Sweetie, you do look really tired. You should go home and get some rest. Then you can come back and we can look around together." Willow said gently.

"Dawn might come back home to get some things when she thinks everyone will be gone too." Anya added.

"Ok. I'll go home and get a few hours of sleep and then I'll come back here." Tara said in defeat.

"I will be looking into that spell Anya, you can help me with that as well." Giles said.

"Fine by me." Anya easily said.

"Come on you two Tara I'll drop you off at the house and Will, I'll drop you off at the mall on my way to the College." Xander said as he stood up.

Tara and Willow both stood up as well and they made their way out of the shop and down to Xander's car. They all knew what needed to be done and now they had to find Dawn and get her back where she was safe. They didn't know how long it would take, but none of them were about to give up. They could just hope that they found her before she was hurt or killed. After two months of being missing there truly was no way for them to know just what she had been getting involved in or if she was even still alive. All they could do was hope they find her in time before it was too late.


	10. The Missing Key

The Missing Key

It had been a week since they had found out that Dawn had run away two months ago. They had spent the week trying to find her or any trace of Jack, but so far they had come up with nothing. They were gathering information on the Initiative. Lorne had been able to get in touch with a few demon clans that had a member taken by the new Initiative, but none had been able to break out so the location was still a mystery to them. They do know that the demons that had been taken were harmless and wouldn't have been out trying to kill anyone. Cordelia was almost able to have a plan to be able to get Faith out of prison legally so they wouldn't have to break her out. All they needed now was a way to find Dawn. Angel had been giving Spike his blood all week and he seemed to be healing. He still had bruising and broken bones, but he was able to move to the bathroom and back without extreme pain. Spike had been agitated and worried sick all week wanting to go and find Dawn, but being stuck here unable to go and look for her.

It was just after five that night and Angel went into the bedroom to give Spike some blood. He walked in and saw that Spike wasn't in bed. He could hear the shower going so he went into the bathroom as he spoke.

"Will, are you okay?"

Angel could see the silhouette of Spike behind the shower curtain. Spike was in the shower floor with his legs curled up to his chest. The room was full of steam and Angel knew the water had been on hot for a while now. When Spike didn't reply Angel went over to the shower and he gently pulled the curtain back. He saw that Spike was sitting there with the hot water hitting his body. Angel could see that Spike's skin was red and he had scrubbed parts of his skin raw with pin drops of blood coming up from scrubbing too hard. Angel reached over and turned off the water. He noticed how it was on straight hot water. He then bent down as he spoke.

"Come on baby you need to get out of here." Angel said gently.

"I can feel them, smell them on me all the time. I just want them off of me." Spike said sadly with hurt all throughout his voice.

Angel grabbed a towel and wrapped it around Spike's too thin shoulders before he picked him up bridal style as he spoke.

"I know baby." Angel said trying to comfort him.

Angel placed Spike down on the bed and he used the towel to dry Spike off before he pulled the cover over Spike's legs to his hips. He then went and looked at Spike's arms where he had rubbed his skin raw. Spike leaned in and kissed Angel. Angel was shocked for a moment, because for the last week they hadn't kissed at all. Angel had made sure he was respectful of what Spike had gone through and he didn't want Spike thinking he was trying anything on him. Angel pulled back enough so their mouth wasn't touching and he placed his hands gently on Spike's biceps.

"Will stop."

"You don't want me anymore." Spike said with hurt all throughout his voice as he pulled his head back.

"Of course I want you. I'll never stop wanting you my Childe. I don't want to pressure you. After everything you've been through I don't want to hurt you or put more hands on you. All I care about is you being healthy again. I don't care if we ever have sex again as long as you are healthy my Childe."

"I want to be yours again. I need to be yours."

"You are mine. Your body belongs to me. My body belongs to you. We belong to each other. Your body is still really injured Will. You have broken ribs, your back isn't healed or your burn. You have bruises and cuts still on you. My blood has helped to heal you, but you are far from healed. I don't want to hurt you further baby. I promise you once you are more healed we can stay in this room and never leave for as long as you want. Or we can go away for the weekend someplace just you and me."

"You don't take vacations."

"I will with you. Just you and me. We don't have to go far we can go check in to a nice hotel on the beach. Take a nice midnight scroll, order some room service and just relax together. Sound good?"

"Sounds amazing. Why though? You never take vacations or do the whole romantic thing."

"With the right person I am. I can't tell you how many times I thought I lost you in these past few months. To feel you close the door on our bond. I couldn't figure out why you would do that. Then it got so busy here I couldn't leave. After fifteen weeks though, I was done. I didn't care if you had moved on or not. I was going to get to the bottom of it. I thought you had gotten back with Buffy and you closed the bond so I wouldn't know. The thought of losing you to her or to death it's a pain I've never felt. Not when I killed Darla or when I had to leave Buffy after graduation. Seeing you in your crypt like that. If I had come across Riley or Buffy I would have killed them and I wouldn't have regretted it for a second."

"But she's the love of your life. Why would you do that just for me?" Spike asked with confusion in his voice.

"Because she stopped being the love of my life when she died. Will, I know we've been through a lot together. I know I've done horrible things to you. Things I hate myself for. Things I can never make up for doing to you." Angel said with regret in his voice.

"I don't care about the past. We've both done hurtful things to each other. It's in the past now."

"It is in the past. I'm hoping you'll be in my future though. I know this is new to both of us. I know we said we were going to take it slow and it doesn't have to mean anything. I suspected this after that weekend I spent with you in your crypt. When I found you last week though, I knew. I'm in love with you William."

Spike was shocked at the admission. It wasn't that he was offended by it. He was shocked that someone like Angel would ever love someone like him. He was dirty and worthless. He didn't deserve Angel's love.

"You can't. I don't deserve your love. I'm not worth it." Spike said back honestly as he looked down.

Angel placed his right hand gently under Spike's chin and he lifted it up so Spike was looking at him again.

"Look at me. You are not worthless. Buffy and that asshole have you believing that you are. They've tortured those thoughts into you. You are not worthless. You are not a thing. You are not disgusting. You are brave. You are strong. You are amazing. I can't even begin to describe how much I love you and everything about you. Being with you I feel like I've finally found that part of me that was missing. I love you and I couldn't imagine spending the rest of my existence without you my sweet Childe."

A single tear rolled down Spike's cheek and Angel rubbed his thumb along Spike's cheek.

"I love you too Sire."

"You don't have to say it back Will."

"I'm not doing it because I feel like I have to. Closing the bond was the hardest thing I've ever had to do. I was so terrified that if you knew what was happening, what I had been doing that you would hate me and find me disgusting. I couldn't lose you again. I thought about you every day. Thinking about you is the only thing that got me through it all. I never expected to get out alive and I never expected for you to care about me at all. I love you."

Angel leaned in and gave Spike a gentle kiss before he pulled back.

"I love you too my sweet Childe."

"I'm gonna hold you to that vacation." Spike said with a small smile.

"You better. I'm looking forward to it already. Once we get you healed up and find Dawnie we are going on a very romantic weekend together."

"Can't wait."

There was a knock at the door before it opened and Cordelia was on the other side looking nervous.

"Everything okay Cordy?" Angel asked as he saw the nervousness on her face.

"Um I don't know. A Detective Murphy with Sunnydale Police is on the phone. He is requesting to speak to Spike. Gunn and Tara gave this number for a William Jackson, Buffy and Dawn's half-brother."

"We'll be right down. Did he say anything at all? Angel asked.

"Nope totally refused to speak to anyone, but him and I get the feeling that he might want visual proof here. I asked if he found Dawnie, but he refused to say anything on the matter due to her being a minor and all." Cordelia answered.

"Maybe that means they found her." Spike said with a slight hope tone to his voice.

"Let's get you dressed and find out." Angel said.

"I got you some clothes Spike that should fit you. I put them in the closet for you." Cordelia said with a warm smile.

"Ta Luv."

"I got him on hold down in the lobby." Cordelia said before she closed the door so Spike could get dressed.

Angel got up and opened the closet. He saw that Cordelia had gotten a few pairs of jeans, some black and a couple dark blue ones. They weren't skinny jeans, but they were straight legged and they would at least fit. There were a few t-shirts that were black, dark blue or dark red. Angel was glad that she didn't get Spike anything too bright as he knew Spike would hate it. Angel grabbed a pair of dark blue jeans and a black t-shirt. He grabbed a pair of his runners for Spike to wear. Angel knew that once Spike we well enough to move around they would need to get him some more clothes. Angel went back over to Spike and helped him get dressed. Spike was still in a lot of pain, but he was able to move around a little. Putting a shirt on hurt though from the level of injuries on his torso. Once dressed Angel helped Spike to stand up.

"Thanks." Spike said with a heavy voice clearly tired from the minimum movement.

"Let's get you downstairs and see what the detective has to say."

Spike gave a nod and held onto Angel's arm as Angel wrapped his left arm around Spike's waist. They headed out of the room and slowly made their way down the stairs. They both saw that Gunn, Fred, Wesley and Cordelia were all standing around waiting to see what the detective had to say. Angel got Spike over to the desk chair and Spike let out a heavy breath before he reached for the phone with a shaky hand. He hit the hold button and did his best to keep the pain and exhaustion from his voice.

"Hello this is William."

"This is William Jackson, half-brother to Buffy and Dawn Summers?"

"Yes it is. Have you found my little sister?"

"I'm Detective Murphy with the Sunnydale Police Department. Are you able to come down here and speak with me?"

"Of course, but did you find her?"

"She has been found and she is here in the station. She's a minor though and without proper identification I can't take you for your word on who you are. A social worker has been called and she will be down within the hour. I understand you are in L.A right now."

"Yes Sir. I'll be down there in two hours roughly with my identification thank-you."

"Ask for Detective Murphy at the front desk and I will come down to speak to you."

"I'll be there as soon as I can."

Spike ended the call and turned to the others as they desperately waited for him to tell them what the detective had said.

"She's at the station. He won't tell me much without proof of ID and a social worker is gonna be there in bout an hour."

"Oh thank God they found her." Cordelia said relieved.

"That is good news." Wesley said.

"Tara faxed over all of your paperwork to prove you're who we said you were." Angel said.

"Ya but he can't go lookin' like this. There's no way they will let Dawnie go with him." Gunn said.

"Gunn is right. They will question if you are a good guardian. I can do a basic spell to cover any injuries. I'm afraid it won't help with the pain or exhaustion, but they won't be able to see your injuries at least." Wesley offered.

"Ya better do that. I hate magic, but can't go into a police station lookin' like I should be in a hospital." Spike said clearly not happy with the idea of magic being done on him.

"I'll get the book." Wesley said.

"Did they say anything about why she was there or did they find her?" Fred asked.

"Wouldn't tell me a lick not until I have proof of identification." Spike said.

"Is that normal to do when it is a minor? I know Dawnie is a minor but it seems extreme not to give out any information at all to Spike." Fred said.

"They didn't meet Spike when the report was filed. You could argue that it should have been the half-brother making the report and not two friends that are older by five years." Gunn said.

"Doesn't matter. We'll know more once we arrive. Cordelia, you should come with us for Dawnie." Angel said.

"We shall all go. That way it will show the police and this social worker that Spike and Dawn will have complete support and have a family, non-traditional, but a family none the less." Wesley said as he came back in with the spell book.

"Should we call the others and let them know?" Fred asked.

"We should wait and see what the police and that social worker has to say first. We don't need them down there arguing that they would be better for Dawnie." Gunn said.

"They didn't seem like they wanted anything to do with Dawnie before though." Fred said.

"Ya well that doesn't mean they will be fine with Dawnie coming to live here and having Spike as a guardian. They could fight against it when it comes down to it." Gunn said.

"I agree we should keep this quiet until we know what exactly is going on. Now Spike I need you to sit still. This won't hurt at all." Wesley said as he found the right page for the spell.

Wesley spoke the Latin words for the spell and once it was over Spike's injuries disappeared.

"I'll grab my purse and coat." Cordelia said.

"Spike, I believe I have an old leather jacket you can use." Wesley said.

"Thanks." Spike said.

"Let's grab our stuff so we can head out. The sooner we get there the sooner we can find out what the hell is going on." Gunn said.

Everyone got up and headed out leaving just Spike and Angel in the lobby. Angel grabbed his coat from off a chair and put it on as he spoke.

"I'm gonna warm up some blood in a thermos for us."

Spike gave a nod and Angel headed over to the kitchen. Once he had some blood in the thermos he went back over to Spike. He bent down and placed a hand gently on the left side of Spike's face.

"You need to feed. You're too weak for this right now. You can sleep on the way in the car too and that should help."

"I can't keep drinking from you I'll become dependent on it."

"Wouldn't bother me in the least if you did. I like you drinking from me it feels intimate. Let's me be close to you and connected to you."

"I like it too. I miss you drinking from me."

"Once you get stronger I will. This is about making you strong again. Taking care of you for a change. Drink my Childe."

Spike didn't argue he lowered his head down to Angel's neck and he gently slid his fangs in. He took a few long pulls of Angel's sweet blood before he licked the two holes closed before he moved his head back.

"You look exhausted."

"I'm going."

"I would never try and convince you to stay. You can sleep in the car along the way." Angel said before he leaned in and gave a gentle kiss to Spike before he stood up.

He heard the others coming and he turned to see them all coming down the stairs. Wesley handed Angel his old leather jacket to help Spike get it on. Angel helped Spike get the jacket on as Cordelia held the paperwork for Spike.

"Who is going with who?" Cordelia asked.

"Why don't you come with Spike and me." Angel suggested.

"Works for me." Cordelia said.

"Fred and I will go with Gunn." Wesley said.

Angel helped Spike get into the jacket and to stand up. He was a little shaky on his feet, but they all knew he wasn't going to give in to the exhaustion or pain. He was going to make sure that he got to Sunnydale and to Dawn. They all made their way out to the cars and they all got into either Angel's car or Gunn's. Angel helped Spike get into the passenger seat before he got into the driver's seat. Cordelia got into the back and once they were all seated Angel turned the car on and headed for the highway with Gunn right behind him. Cordelia made sure she sat behind Angel's seat so Spike could put his seat back once they hit the highway.

"Try and get some sleep Will. I'll wake you up once we hit the city." Angel said calmly.

"Ya you should put the seat back and just rest up." Cordelia said encouragingly.

Spike pushed the back of the seat back and he leaned back in the seat. They were all quiet so Spike could sleep. When they were half way there and Spike hadn't even stirred at all Cordelia spoke softly to Angel knowing he could hear her.

"You know I know she is hurt and Buffy has been neglecting her and all that. But I'm pissed at her for what she has put Spike through. He's gone through so much just to protect her and take care of her. He doesn't deserve her acting out like this."

"I know, but she doesn't know what he's been going through. She's acting out because she's hurt we can't forget that." Angel said softly back.

"Ya I know. If I ever see Buffy again I'm gonna punch her in the face."

"That's the least I'm going to do to her and Soldier Boy. Right now we need to focus on getting Dawnie back home with us and get her some help. We don't know why she is at the station. She could have been arrested for all we know."

"God I hope not. That's just going to complicate things even more. Is Spike even going to be able to handle doing this physically? He's still really injured."

"He'll get it done. Afterwards I'll be surprised if he can even move out of bed again for the next week. This is gonna set him back."

"Hopefully they let us take her back to L.A so they can both heal from all of this. I doubt it will be that easy though."

"It never is, but you can hope."

They drove the rest of the way in silence. Both of them were hoping that Dawn was alright and that she was picked up because of the missing person's report and not because she had committed a crime. They didn't know what she had been up to in the past few months and they were all hoping that she had learnt her lesson when she got pregnant. Once they arrived in town Angel gently placed his hand on Spike's left thigh as he spoke.

"Will."

Spike stirred in his sleep and slowly opened his eyes.

"We're in town." Angel said once Spike had his eyes open.

Spike let in a deep breath as he tried to force his body to wake up. He was always so tired, but he knew he had to stay awake for this. He was finally going to get to see Dawn after all of these months. He just wanted to see her and make sure she was okay. The rest he could deal with. A lot was riding on this and he wasn't going to fail tonight. Spike put the seat back up and looked out the window at the building passing by. He knew they were close. Sunnydale wasn't exactly a huge city so it wouldn't take long at all to get to the police station. Once they arrived Angel parked his car in the first visitor spot closest to the front door. He turned it off and turned to face Spike as Gunn parked beside him. Angel turned to Spike as he spoke.

"You need to be prepared for anything Will. We don't know how Dawnie ended up here. She could have been found or she could have been arrested. We don't know."

"I know. She's alive though and anything else can be fixed."

"Are you ready?"

"As I'll ever be."

"Let's go."

Angel and Cordelia opened their doors and got out the same as Gunn, Fred and Wesley. Angel went around to the passenger side and helped Spike get up and out of the car. He was stiff from sitting for the past two hours and the pain in his body was only getting worse from the movement. With the help of Angel they made their way inside and over to the front desk. Spike knew he would need to have a good story for why he was walking weird and stiff, but he was good at lying so he wasn't too worried about it.

"Can I help you?" The front desk Sargent asked.

"Here to see Detective Murphy. I'm William Jackson, Dawn Summers' half-brother." Spike said politely making sure he dropped his bad boy accent slightly.

"I'll let him know you are here." The Sargent said.

"Thank-you." Spike said.

The Sargent dialed Detective Murphy's number and informed him that Spike was there. They all stood off to the side just waiting for when the detective would be down. Cordelia made sure she gave Spike all of the paperwork that he would need to prove who he was to the detective and the social worker. Spike was hoping this would work and they could take Dawn back to L.A. with them. After a few minutes the Detective walked into the room with an older woman in a suit. They came over to the group and Spike knew this was them.

"William Jackson?" Detective Murphy asked the group.

"That would be me." Spike answered.

Detective Murphy looked at Spike and Spike knew he was trying to assess the situation. Spike knew he looked a little worn out and weird Angel was still holding his arm gently to help him stand up.

"I'm Detective Murphy and this is Miss. Wilson. We need to speak to you privately about Dawn Summers."

"Of course. Would it be alright if they came? We have all been worried sick about my sister for months now. Anything you tell me I am only going to tell them afterwards. I would prefer for them to ask you their questions and not me." Spike said politely.

"Do you have proof of who you are and that you are Dawn's half-brother?" Detective Murphy asked.

"Right here." Spike said as he handed the detective the paperwork. He was praying that Willow's work would hold up.

Detective Murphy and Miss. Wilson looked over the paperwork together and after a moment they both nodded.

"Follow me please." Detective Murphy said.

"All of us?" Cordelia asked.

"All of you." Detective Murphy said.

They all followed the detective and social worker through a set of doors and a few hallways before they arrived at an office that they figured was the detective's. There were two chairs and Angel got Spike to sit down in the one and Cordelia sat down in the other one. Angel stood behind Spike's chair with his hands on the back of it.

"Are you alright? You seem injured." Miss. Wilson asked Spike.

"I'm a private investigator along with my friends here. I took a bad hit and got banged up a little. Nothing serious it's just stiff and painful. I'll be fine soon enough." Spike said with a calm smile. He didn't want them thinking he was too injured to look after Dawn, but he also needed it to sound serious enough to warrant Angel's help.

"You are all private investigators?" Detective Murphy asked.

"Some more than others." Cordelia said.

"Fred and Cordelia, they help with administrative work and research. Charles, Angel, William and myself do more of the field work." Wesley provided.

"Must be busy in a city like L.A." Miss. Wilson said.

"It can be at times. We operate out of an old hotel we renovated. Most of us live there so we can work at different hours of the day and night when needed. Dawn has been there for the weekend over four months ago." Angel supplied. He knew what the worker and detective were doing. They were fishing for answers on if they should allow Dawn to be released to them or not.

"How long have you been in Dawn's life William?" Miss. Wilson asked.

"I've always known about her. I've seen her growing up. Not as often as I would have liked. I lived in London most of my life. I moved out to California three years ago. I've lived in L.A for that time working with Angel and his family. I've come down here to see Dawn quite a bit over the years." Spike answered.

"Since Joyce died, Dawn's mother, William has been the one paying all of the bills and taking care of Dawn. He lived with Dawn for four months while Buffy was away and then moved back shortly after Buffy returned." Angel supplied.

"And even after Buffy returned you still paid the bills?" Miss. Wilson asked.

"I did, technically I do still. I am sure you are wondering why and that is simple. Joyce wanted her daughters in that home, they are my half-sisters. I am more close to Dawn than Buffy. I don't care for the way Buffy has been acting recently or for the way she has been taking care of Dawn. Still I always made sure the bills were paid and there was food in the house." Spike answered.

"Yet she has been missing for two months. According to the report you haven't seen her in just shy of four months. Why the long gap?" Detective Murphy asked.

"I was in L.A working and she lives here. If Buffy would have allowed it I would have moved Dawn out there with me. Five months ago she was starting to get into trouble. I saw the early signs and that is why I had her come out for that weekend to get to know the others better and a chance to get away. Angel, Cordelia and myself came down here the next weekend to spend time with Dawn. She was upset at how Buffy had reacted to her being with me in L.A. We were texting each other every day. She was texting Cordelia as well and then it dwindled down to nothing. I haven't heard from her in three months, none of us have. I was constantly trying to reach her as were the others and then we found out she was missing, had been for two months. I wish I had been told sooner. I had assumed the others living in that house were seeing her and she was just busy with school and her new boyfriend. Had I had known the situation was different I would have come down to find her." Spike said.

"Why didn't the others inform you? Surely Buffy would have noticed that her sister wasn't around like she was supposed to be or the two other women living in the house. They never contacted you about it?" Miss. Wilson asked.

"I found out that Dawn hadn't been around in those months from Tara, one of the women who live in the house. She came to us in L.A a week ago. I was just injured and in no shape to be going anywhere so Charlie went to Sunnydale with Tara to look for Dawn and asked some of her friends. They then came in to file a missing person's report. Willow and Tara, the two women who live with Buffy and Dawn are the only ones outside of Dawn that like me. The others don't because of Buffy."

"She doesn't like you?" Detective Murphy asked.

"I'm older than Buffy by eight years. We share the same father as does Dawn. When Joyce, their mother, and our father started dating he had cheated on her with a woman in London on a business trip. He knew about me and I had grown up without him in my life. Not even a visit. I didn't know about Buffy or Dawn even existed until Dawn was nine. I came down to visit and see them. They are my family, half blood or not and I wanted to at least meet them. Joyce had never known about me either and the first meeting did not go over as well as I had hoped. Dawn was thrilled and Joyce was very accepting and understanding. She didn't hold my father's actions against me and when she passed away I missed her greatly, I still do. She reminded me of my own Mum who I had lost as well."

"Buffy didn't react well to it though?" Miss. Wilson asked.

"No she did not. She felt betrayed by her father who had very recently at the time divorced her mother and stayed in L.A while they moved out here. Her animosity towards me fed into her friends and they don't tend to like me. It has gotten slightly better after I had taken care of Dawn for those four months when Buffy was gone. Buffy and I have a very unstable and unhealthy relationship with each other. I tend to avoid her these past few months."

"I don't know if you are aware, but Buffy has lost guardianship over Dawn." Miss. Wilson said.

"I heard that last week. I've been gathering my paperwork so when Dawn was found that I would be able to bring her home with me. Getting her out of Sunnydale and away from the bad influences in her life."

"Do you live in the hotel?" Miss. Wilson asked.

"I do."

"Are you married or with a woman?" Miss. Wilson asked.

"No I'm not dating anyone right now. I work for Angel and I am financially secure through employment and investments."

"I know we are not a traditional family, but for all of us we are the only family we have. We all care for Dawn very much and we all have been worried about her for these past four months." Wesley said.

"She's been really lost and Buffy hasn't been looking after her or even paying any attention to her. Dawnie is struggling and she needs the chance to get out of the life she is in and into a better one. She can have one with us." Cordelia said.

"You all are willing to take on a sixteen year old teenager?" Detective Murphy asked slightly shocked.

"We are. She's part of this family and we all love her. We want her with us and now that Buffy has lost her guardianship I don't see why it wouldn't go to William." Angel said.

"I think we might be able to work something out. It would be temporary at first and I would need to come down and see the hotel and where she would be living. She would need to be enrolled into school for the next semester." Miss. Wilson.

"I can do that easily for her." Spike said.

"There is unfortunately a problem with having her released to you Mr. Jackson." Detective Murphy said.

"And what is that Sir?" Spike asked calmly.

"She was arrested tonight with multiple charges." Detective Murphy said.

Spike let out a sigh before he spoke. "On what charges?"

"Her life has gotten worse over the last few months it would seem." Miss. Wilson said sadly.

"We have been tracking a team of jewellery store thieves for the past year. They have stolen close to a hundred million dollars within the last year within town and within the ten towns around Sunnydale. Tonight they were finally caught within town. A security guard walked in on the robbery and was shot and killed. The group ran out but the shots were heard by a patrol car nearby. The patrolmen pursued and they were able to catch three of them, two males both in their twenties and Dawn. She was the one with the gun on her. We checked her hands for GSR, gunshot residue, and she had some on her hands, but not enough to indicate that she fired the gun. She was given the gun after it was fired. We ran a urine drug test and it came back with high levels of cocaine."

"Oh my gosh." Fred said in shock.

"The urine test also came back that she was pregnant. The police issue drug tests have been known to react to the hormones in a woman when at least two months pregnant. It came back as well that she is at least two months pregnant. I would imagine she isn't much further along as she doesn't show. She might not even know." Miss. Wilson said.

"She's pregnant again?" Cordelia asked.

"She is. Obviously, my main concern is that she is doing a heavy among of drugs and probably drinking. The harm it could be causing the fetus could be devastating and could also affect her physically. She needs to be examined by a doctor and if an abortion is what she wishes that is her choice, but I have been informed that she already had one." Miss. Wilson said.

"She's smarter than this. She hasn't been the same since her mum died. She was struggling for a little while after that, but when I lived with her I had her going to summer school and she was getting her grades up. She was doing better and then Buffy returned and she got worse and worse." Spike said with a heavy heart.

"What are her charges?" Angel asked.

"From what we can prove she has federal grand larceny, possession of cocaine, possession of a deadly weapon and because of how the law works she is also being charged with Murder Two. Anytime someone dies during a crime all parties of that crime are given the same charge. She could have multiple counts of federal grand larceny if we can tie her to other robberies within the past year. Even though she is sixteen, because of the nature of her charges she will be trialed as an adult. She's looking at twenty-five to life, maybe a chance of parole at fifteen years. There is also a petty crime charge for vandalism, destruction of property and breaking and entering a home. The home of her school principal who has it on good authority that Dawn was one of the parties involved in that crime roughly four months ago. Those charges he is willing to drop if she completes a hundred thousand hours of community service, the estimated price it will cost him to repair everything. He also wants her expelled from the school with no protest from her guardian." Detective Murphy said.

"Kinda hard to be in school if she's going to jail for the rest of her life." Gunn said with anger.

"Is there anything we can do? She's a good girl. I know it doesn't come across to you, but she is. She's just mixed into the wrong crowd and that new boyfriend of her is taking advantage of her and her situation." Spike said.

"I agree with you on that. I think she has been taken advantage of and I think she is smart. I haven't interviewed anyone yet. I will interview her first and make the deal that if she talks to me and gives me tells me everything she knows then she can walk out of here. She will still have to perform her community service or those lesser charges will stick. But if she talks then she can walk out of here tonight." Detective Murphy.

"You'll drop all charges?" Angel asked.

"I will, but she has to give me everything she knows. Everyone involved. The stores they robbed since she has been a part of it. She has to give me the supplier they hand the jewellery off to. I want everything and she will have immunity for it and I will sign it and have my D.A sign it as well before we start the interview. I want everything though or there's no deal and she goes to jail tonight with the others." Detective Murphy.

"I need to talk to her. She won't want to right away talk about it and give up her boyfriend, but I'll get her to. I need to speak with her." Spike said.

"We can have her brought to an interview room. The room will be video recording you, but we will have to mics off because she is a minor. When you are ready for me to come in just nod and at the camera and I'll come in." Detective Murphy said.

"Get the paperwork ready, because she'll talk. She's not going to spend the rest of her life in jail for him I can promise you that." Spike said.

"I'll get the ball rolling then. I'll have an officer bring her up to an interview room. If you would please follow me I will show you to a room." Detective Murphy said as he stood up.

Angel helped Spike to stand up and Miss. Wilson stood as well. Angel whispered to Spike.

"Do you want me there with you?"

"No this is something I need to do with her. Thank-you though." Spike whispered back.

"You folks can wait out in the lobby area." Detective Murphy said.

"I'll wait down from the interview room if that is alright with you. William is still shaky on his legs." Angel said calmly.

"That's fine, but you can't be in the interview room once we begin for legal reasons." Detective Murphy said.

"I will wait down the hallway for when you have completed the interview that's no problem." Angel said.

They all headed out of the room and Angel and Spike followed Detective Murphy and Miss. Wilson down to an interviewing room. The others headed to the lobby and now all they could do was wait for when Spike would be out with Dawn hopefully. Angel helped to walk Spike down to the interview room. Once there Detective Murphy opened the door and spoke.

"You can wait in here and Dawn will be brought in to you. I will get the paperwork together for immunity. Once that is taken care of I'll be in the room right here watching the camera for when you are ready." Detective Murphy said.

"Thank-you Detective." Angel said.

Detective Murphy went down the hallway and Miss. Wilson spoke.

"I will be there during the interview as Dawn is currently in state custody. I won't speak unless I have to. I am simply there for legal purposes."

"If she does agree to this can I take her back to L.A tonight?" Spike asked.

"If she is released then yes I would be willing to let that happen. I will be out there tomorrow to see where Dawn would be living. I will also have a worker from L.A there and that worker will be Dawn's worker. There will be an open case for a few months at least. You'll have to meet the worker a few times a month until the case is closed." Miss. Wilson said.

"That's fine we don't have anything to hide at all." Angel said.

"I'll speak with my supervisor while you are speaking with Dawn so the paperwork can be started. I hope she does the right thing tonight."

"She will. She's a good girl she's just lost right now." Spike said in Dawn's defense.

"I believe so too. Good luck." Miss. Wilson said with a polite smile before she turned and headed down the hallway to make the call.

Angel helped Spike go into the room and Spike leaned against the table.

"I'm sorry I said that I was single. I just didn't know how they would react to us being together." Spike said apologetically.

"I know I understand. To them we are gay and that could be seen as a bad thing. I know why you said it Will. I'm not upset over it at all. I would have said the same thing. How are you feeling?" Angel asked with concern.

"It hurts. It hurts a lot right now. I'm pissed at her I really am and I know, I know it's not all of her fault. Buffy has been neglecting her for months now. They all have been neglecting her. That asshole has taken advantage of her, but I'm so pissed at her. She knows better than this. I went through hell to keep her in that house and in school. I went through so much pain and even though she didn't know about it I can't help but feel that she just slapped me in the face."

"You have every right to be pissed right now Will. Yes she didn't know what you were doing just to take care of her and protect her, but she knew you wouldn't have approved. She knew she could have gone to you or to any of us in L.A and we would have helped her. She knew you were paying the bills and she acted this way anyways. It's a very big slap in the face to you. It's not all her fault, but she has to understand that her actions are not excused. Someone died tonight and she needs to own up to it and everything else that she has done. You being pissed is good for her right now. She needs to know that you won't accept this behaviour. You need to be tough with her. To save her life you need to be tough on her."

"I know. I just wish I could have stopped this. I shouldn't have stayed. I should have gone to you and maybe this wouldn't have happened." Spike said with regret.

"You can't blame yourself. You want to blame someone other than Dawn you can blame Buffy and Riley for what they did to you. It's not your fault. You are the last person that is at fault here. Don't ever think for a second you could have prevented this or you did something wrong. You did everything you could to keep Dawn safe and in that house. You went through hell for months to take care of her. You didn't deserve what they did to you and you don't deserve this stress now. I mean it my Childe." Angel said with strength to his voice.

They both heard someone walking down the hallway and Angel stepped back. They turned to see an officer walking Dawn into the room. She had cuffs on in front of her and she was clearly stoned and didn't seem to care that she was here. She was wearing tight black jeans and a black tank top that hung dangerously low. Around her neck was a very expensive diamond choker and one around her right wrist to match. Both Angel and Spike knew those would be worth ten thousand at least each. Angel looked over at Spike once more before he left the room without even giving Dawn a second look. Just seeing her was enough to piss off Angel and he didn't want to say anything that he would regret later. He needed some time to cool off and figure out what to say to her. The officer place Dawn down in the chair and went to remove the cuffs when Spike spoke.

"Leave them on."

The officer looked at Spike for a moment before he nodded and headed out of the room. He closed the door behind him and the room was completely silent. Spike leaned against the table just looking at Dawn and waiting to see if she would say anything. He was also trying to figure out what to say himself. He was pissed off and that only increased when he saw that Dawn clearly didn't care that she was here in the police station. She had cuffs on her wrists and yet she didn't even act like she was in trouble. After a few minutes and Dawn just continued to sit there like she didn't have a care in the world Spike finally spoke.

"Really? Your just gonna sit there and not say a word to me?" Spike asked with a tight anger in his voice.

"Oh now you want to talk? You didn't care before." Dawn said with attitude.

"Excuse me? I didn't care? Who was the one paying the bills and making sure you had food to eat? Who was the one to help you with your homework? Who was the one to make sure you got up in the morning and off to school? Who was the one to cook you dinner and be there with you in that house? Who was the one that took you to L.A for the weekend? Who was the one that taught you how to defend yourself? Who was the one working days straight just to make sure you had a roof over your head and food in your belly? Don't you dare tell me I didn't care about you. You have no idea the hell I have been putting up with from your sister and her little boyfriend just so I could see you. I texted you for months and you canceled our dates, you stopped texting me, you changed your number. You are the one that abandoned me not the other way around. Don't you dare blame this shit on me. You have no excuse in the bloody fucking world to be mad at me." Spike said with pure anger in his voice and he wasn't certain if his eyes changed color or not.

"Whatever." Dawn said as she rolled her eyes.

"Drop the attitude little girl. You are the one in serious shit here and I am the only one standing in the way of you being locked away for life. I suggest you start showing some respect and some regret for your actions."

"Like you have regrets. That's funny coming from you with no soul and all." Dawn snapped.

"I don't need a soul to know the difference between right and wrong and I got news for you I feel regret even without it. I always have it's why I never played with my food. Do you not understand how much trouble you are in? Don't you get that?"

"Please I'm a minor and I've never been in trouble with the law before. I'll get community service or at worse probation. I'll be out of here by tomorrow night. Jake will get me out on bail and it won't be any big deal." Dawn said as she rolled her eyes.

"Oh you think your honeypie is gonna get you out of here? Got news for you, you're sixteen which means they can chose to charge you as an adult. Detective already told me that you are bein' charged as an adult with all of your charges you're lookin' at twenty-five to life. You ain't gettin' bail Dawn. You're gonna be spending the rest of your life behind bars with some other bird making you her bitch. Jake ain't comin' for your ass. The only one here for you is me and mine."

Dawn finally looked up at Spike and Spike could see the doubt in her eyes.

"He wouldn't leave me here. He'll be here and he'll get me out of here. I haven't done anything worth that harsh of a sentence."

"Oh no? Bein' part of a robbing crew that took over millions dollars in jewellery in the past year that alone will get you fifteen. Maybe in all of this great excitement you forgot that a man died tonight. One of your friends shot him and killed him then gave you the gun. You are gonna be charged with second degree murder plus possession of a deadly weapon and drugs. Not to mention the multiple charges of felony grand larceny. Twenty-five to life and no bail that's what you're lookin' at."

"They can't charge me with second degree murder I didn't shoot anyone." Dawn said with slightly less attitude as the reality was starting to set in.

"They can and they are. It's the law. If someone is killed during a crime the whole lot that was there is charged with murder. You don't have to be the one to pull the trigger you just have to be there and you were with two other blokes. I'm assumin' your honey was there and he left you behind."

"He…" Dawn hesitated before she changed her mind and put the attitude back on. "I know what you are doing. You're trying to trick me into saying something so the police can try to use it against me. I'm not stupid."

"No you are beyond stupid. I'm here trying to help you. Trying to keep your ass out of jail, but if this is how you want to act and treat me then fuck you. Enjoy giving birth to your child in a jail house hospital. Make sure you kiss that baby really good though, cuz you'll never see it or hold it again. Enjoy your life behind bars." Spike said with anger as he pushed off from the table and went towards the door.

He was just about to open the door when Dawn spoke.

"Wait."

Spike turned around and he could see that Dawn was starting to become defeated. Reality was setting in and now the mention of her being pregnant seemed to snap her back in it completely. The idea of being in jail for her life was terrifying, but finding out she was pregnant scared her even more.

"What?" Spike asked with attitude.

"What do you mean baby?" Dawn asked with fear to her voice.

"You don't know? You're up the stump. I guess I should say again. Glinda found the report from the clinic you went to four months ago. Why you didn't tell me I'll never know. I would have been pissed ya, but not because you were pregnant. I would have been pissed that you were stupid enough to have sex without protection. I would have gone with you to the clinic. I would have helped you take care of the baby if that was your choice. Now once again you are pregnant and going to jail. Is this really the life you wanted? Cuz it's damn well sure the life you chose."

"What's it matter? I wasn't supposed to be alive anyways right? I don't really exist. My life doesn't matter not like a normal person's does." Dawn said with self-hate.

Spike walked back over to Dawn and he grabbed one of the chairs and placed it down beside her. He sat down carefully before he spoke.

"Now you listen to me and you listen good. Your life matters. Every person in this world came different. Some were born from parents who loved each other and some were born from one night stands. Some are born in a lab and some were born from rape. Ya all of them were little and they had real memories and not magical made ones. But you are alive. You bleed. You have emotions. You have dreams. You have a heartbeat. You are a living, breathing human, but you have something they will never have."

"What's that?" Dawn asked softly.

"You weren't just made like the rest of em. You were chosen. You were made special. The world decided that it needed a Dawn in it. That you needed to exist to make the world a better place. You weren't a product of biology. You were specially chosen by the Powers that Be, that makes you more special then all of the Slayers in the world. You were truly chosen to be alive. I can't think of a better reason to live and embrace life. You have something they never could have Niblet. You shouldn't hate yourself for that. You should be embracing it and accepting of who you are, because who you are is why I love you so much." Spike said gently.

A single tear rolled down Dawn's cheek. Spike moved his right hand and gently wiped it away.

"Are you done being stupid?" Spike asked gently.

"Am I really pregnant again? You weren't just saying that?"

"Wouldn't do that. It came back positive when they checked your urine for drugs. You're at least two months along. You didn't know?"

"No." Dawn said softly.

"Well that's gonna have to be something you decide what you want to do about it."

"What's to decide? I'm going to jail right. It's not like I'll be able to go out and pick out a crib or anything. No choice to make is there." Dawn said sadly.

"There is one that you need to make right now that will decide the rest of your life. I can get you out of here, but only if you talk."

"Talk about what?" Dawn asked confused.

"They will grant you immunity to any crime you have committed in the past year, including tonight. If you tell them everything you know about the crew and the suppliers. You have to give everyone up and testify. If you do then you get to walk out of here tonight."

"No way. I can't turn Jake in. Besides even if I did I would just go back to Buffy's and deal with her. I'd rather be in jail thanks."

"Buffy lost guardianship of you a week ago when you disappeared for two months."

"Great so I go to a group home or something. Even better, not." Dawn said with attitude.

"You would come with me back to L.A and live with me at the hotel. I will be able to be granted temporary custody of you until you turn eighteen and then you would be considered an adult. They think I'm your half-brother from your father. You would be living with me and the others in L.A. You have one chance and one chance only to change your life and make something of yourself right now. So decide, do you want to spend the rest of your life in jail or do you want to be out in L.A getting healthy, off the drugs and back on track to make something of yourself and live the life you were blessed with. What's it gonna be?"

"Make something of myself? What does it matter? It doesn't change that I'm pregnant. Having that abortion I thought I would be fine with it and I was for the first week. Then it hit me and I hated myself for doing it. Now I'm pregnant and I can't go through with that again so my life is basically over. I'll be some teenage mom that is a high school dropout working in some fast food joint for the rest of my life. My life is already over." Dawn said with more self-hate in her voice.

"Having a kid doesn't mean your life is over. Lots of birds do it every single day. I'm not sayin' it won't be hard, it's gonna be and there will be times you wish you didn't have the sprog. But you don't have to do it alone. I'll be there to support you if you want to keep the baby. You can still go to school and finish. You can still go to university with a baby. It doesn't mean your life is over Niblet. It just means it will be different than most. I know you feel like you are in this life alone, but you aren't. I'm here for you, I have been this whole time. You are the one who pushed me away not the other way around."

Dawn was quiet for a moment and Spike knew she was thinking about what to do. After a moment she spoke.

"I could really leave tonight? Go with you back to L.A?"

"Ya you really can."

"The others probably won't want me there though, not after this." Dawn said sadly.

"They are all in the lobby waitin' to see if you'll be smart or stupid and make the wrong choice. They already know that you have been doing drugs, having sex, and robbin' places. We also know that you and your friends destroyed your principal's car and house. He's willin' to not press charges if you agree to complete a hundred thousand hours of community service."

"What that's insane?" Dawn said with outrage.

"Really? Considerin' you have stolen millions of dollars and costed him that much in repairs. I would be thankful if I were you right now. You could walk out of here and only have to put in those hours and you won't have a record or anything holding you back from the life you want. I would be thankful if I were you." Spike warned.

"Ok when you put it like that it doesn't look so bad. I can pick the place?"

"Probably as long as it fits with community work."

"But I would have to turn Jake in?"

"Ya."

"I can't do that. I love him and he loves me. This baby is ours. I can't just send him to jail."

"He's willin' to send you to jail for life, baby and all. He's usin' you Luv. I know it hurts to hear it, but it's true. If he loved you he wouldn't have given you that gun. He wouldn't have gotten you pregnant in the first place. He wouldn't have let you get hooked on drugs. He wouldn't have gotten you involved in anything criminal. He wouldn't be turning you into someone you aren't. Part of you knows that this isn't a healthy relationship. Take it from someone how knows what that looks like. You deserve someone so much better than that piece of shit."

"But I love him. He treats me really good. He loves me." Dawn said back weakly.

"Think about what I said. I'll be right back." Spike said knowing he wasn't the person for this.

Spike got up and slowly made his way out of the room. He went down the hallway and down to the lobby. He walked in and saw the others were all standing around anxiously waiting.

"Did she agree?" Angel asked.

"Not yet. I got her to quit the attitude and she didn't know she was pregnant. She's willing to do it, but she doesn't want to give up the boyfriend." Spike answered.

"But he's no good for her." Fred said.

"I told her that, but she believes he loves her and that she loves him. I was hopin' Cordy, you wouldn't mind talkin' to her. Maybe this is something she needs to hear from a bird." Spike said.

"Definitely I can talk to her and help her understand. She's young and she believes what they have is love. You never forget your first love, even a bad one. Show me where she is and I'll get her to give him up." Cordelia said.

"Ta Pet."

Spike gave Angel a small smile before him and Cordelia went back down the hallway and to the room.

"I'll wait out here. Give you some girl time." Spike said.

"I'll get her to do this. I promise." Cordelia said before she turned and headed into the room. Spike sat down in one of the chairs outside and just waited for when this night could be over.

Cordelia opened the door and walked into the room. She saw Dawn look up and it was clear she was expecting Spike to come walking in and not her. Cordelia could see that Dawn had faced reality and now she seemed to be defeated, but the only hope that she held was the fact that she believed that Jake loved her. Cordelia knew that she would have to get Dawn to see that Jake didn't love her. Cordelia went over to the empty chair and she sat down as she spoke.

"How are you doing?"

"Apparently not so good. Why did Spike send you in?" Dawn asked calmly.

"He thought it would be better for a woman to talk to you about this than him. He's pretty pissed off right now, rightly so."

"He's never been mad at me before. He's never yelled at me, like actual yelling. I'm not used to it. I don't like it."

"He's really hurt right now by you. He feels betrayed by you. He's been through hell to keep you feed and in that house. Literally hell on earth is what he has been going through these past five months and ever since Buffy died he's been doing things he never expected he would ever do, just to keep you in a home and with food. You sister and Riley have really hurt him. Physically, mentally and emotionally. He's only been in L.A a week. You can't see it right now because of the spell, but he's covered in bruises, burns, lashes, a cross was burnt into his chest. He's been tortured by Buffy and Riley for months straight now. Angel found him a week ago and brought him back to L.A. This was the last thing he needed."

"I didn't know he was hurt. I didn't notice. He's right I did abandon him. After everything he did for me and I turn around and do this. I hurt him this way. Maybe the Monks made a mistake and I should never have been created." Dawn said sadly with self-hatred.

"It doesn't matter if they made the mistake or not, you're still here. You still exist and you still have a life. Who cares where you came from it doesn't change that you are here. You should be living your life right and properly, because you have a life and that's all that matters."

"So you think I should do it? Turn in the man that I love to save myself."

"If I was in your position I would have done it the minute I walked in the door."

"But I love him and he loves me. How could I do that?" Dawn asked confused and uncertain.

"You might love him and I'm not saying you don't. I believe what you feel you think is love and it might just be. But it's puppy love. It's not real adult love. I've been there. I thought I loved Xander and the worst feeling I would ever feel is when we broke up, but then I grew up and I realised that even though he is my first love, it wasn't adult true love. It was just teenager puppy love and that never lasts."

"But"

"No listen to me. Do you think Spike loves Angel?"

"Ya, I mean I don't know for sure, but he seems to love him."

"Do you think Angel loves Spike?"

"Ya probably."

"Do you think that either of them would ever put the other in a positon where they could go to jail? Would either of them ever leave the other behind to face death or jail to save their own self?"

"No they wouldn't do that."

"No they wouldn't, because that is what love is. You don't leave the one you love behind to take the fall. If he loved you he wouldn't have you in this world. He would have kept you out of it. He would never have used you like this. That's not love sweetie, that's just an asshole taking advantage of you and your situation. He's manipulating you. He'll have a new girl by the end of the week and he'll be telling her exactly what she needs to hear so he can get her to do whatever he wants. If you really look back on everything you've done and he's had done to you, you'll know if he loved you he wouldn't have had you do those things." Cordelia said calmly trying to get Dawn to understand.

Dawn was quiet for a moment as she thought about what Cordelia had said. She thought back to all of the good times that her and Jake had and then all of the times that maybe shouldn't have happened. She could see where Cordelia was coming from, but she also couldn't stop thinking about all of the fun and happiness she had with Jake. Sure maybe he wasn't perfect, but how could she just ignore the joy she had with him.

"How do I forget about all of the good times we had together? About how he made me feel like I was the only one that mattered? How do I just forget that?"

"By remembering that his feelings for you were only there because he wanted you to believe it. He was just using you and manipulating you like he's going to do to someone else. Take those memories and remember that feeling so when you do find a man that loves you truly and cares about your well-being you'll remember how it felt with Jake. The difference is though it's going to be so much better, because it'll be real and not fake."

"So I should save myself?"

"Ya you should. Then we can all get out of here and go back too L.A and you can start your life fresh."

"Being pregnant." Dawn grumbled.

"Hey you made the stupid mistake of not using protection. I told you to use protection and you didn't. Then you didn't learn from the first pregnancy you did it again. Right now you need to save yourself, because your baby needs you to. Whether you keep it or not doesn't change the fact that you are still having a baby right now. You have to put the baby first. So ya you have to save yourself and send the asshole up the creek. Trust me you will be glad you did one day. Because one day you will get to experience true love and you'll hate yourself for even thinking twice about this. Do it for yourself, for your baby and do it for Spike, because he's more than earned it."

Dawn was quiet for a moment and Cordelia allowed her the time to think about it. Cordelia got up from the chair and headed out of the room. She saw Spike sitting there in one of the chairs and she gave him a small smile.

"She's just thinking right now. She'll do it though, I can tell." Cordelia said calmly to Spike.

"Thanks Pet."

"How are you?" Cordelia asked as she sat down beside Spike.

Spike let out a sigh before he spoke.

"I don't know. I just want this night to be over with. I'm so tired and everything hurts. I just want it over with."

"I bet you do. This isn't exactly what any of us expected to be happening right now. It's a lot to take in. She's got a long road ahead of her but we all care about her and we can get her through this."

"I know we can. I just don't have it in me tonight for this. I didn't expect this to be what happened when we finally found her." Spike let out a sigh and put his head in his hands. He was so exhausted he just wanted to sleep.

"It'll be over soon and we can go back to the hotel and just sleep."

Spike raised his head again and spoke.

"Ya. I better go see if she's willin' to talk now. Thanks for goin' in there with her."

"No problem. Good luck." Cordelia said with a small smile.

Spike got up and headed back into the room. He closed the door and went and sat down in the empty chair.

"What's it gonna be Niblet? You goin' to jail or are you goin' home with me?"

Dawn let out a sigh and Spike could see a few tears going down her cheeks before she spoke.

"Going home. It feels wrong though to turn on him." Dawn said sadly.

"If he truly loved you he would never have put you in this position. He wouldn't have put you in that life. That's not love Niblet. I know it hurts, but it's not love."

"That's what Cordelia said. I understand it, but it doesn't make it hurt less and it doesn't make this feel less wrong, less of a betrayal."

"That might be true, but a man died tonight. His family has to bury him. He might have kids himself, maybe a wife or a girlfriend. They have to mourn him. That's no game. The game is over tonight and you have to look out for yourself and that baby."

"I know. What am I gonna do about the baby?" Dawn asked with tears filling her eyes.

"We'll figure it out. The first step is gettin' you out of here. The rest we will figure out tomorrow." Spike said before he turned to the camera and nodded his head so Detective Murphy would know that they were ready for him.

"Ya but then what?" Dawn asked with confusion and just complete lost in her voice.

"We figure it out. Right now you need to focus on telling this detective everything. I'm gonna be right here with you and a social worker, Miss. Wilson will be here too. You need to tell them everything no matter what they ask. Do you understand?" Spike said in a serious voice.

"I got it. I hate this, but I got it. I'll do the right thing. I'm sorry for dragging you into this."

"You can make it up to me by provin' you can do the right thing even when it's hard and it hurts. Start growing up and being the young woman I know you can be."

Dawn just gave a nod and the door to the room opened. Detective Murphy and Miss. Wilson walked inside. They both went and sat down in the two chairs on the opposite side of Spike and Dawn.

"Dawn, my name is Detective Murphy and this is a social worker Miss. Wilson. There are somethings we need to discuss and the only way this is going to work in your favor is if you tell us the truth, no matter what it is. Do you understand so far?" Detective Murphy said in a serious voice.

"Yes Sir. My brother explained that I have to tell you everything I know in exchange for immunity on the charges." Dawn said.

"That's right. Your brother William can stay here in the room while you go through this interview. Miss. Wilson is also here to explain what will happen after the interview tonight and legally she is your guardian until the paperwork is signed by William and her supervisor. Legally she needs to be here, but she won't intervene at all unless she feels your rights are being violated. Do you understand that part?" Detective Murphy asked.

"Yes Sir."

"I have spoken with my Commander and the District Attorney and they have both agreed and signed the contract that if you agree to testify against those that are arrested and give us everything you can on the organization, then you will be given immunity. This conversation is being video recorded and voice recorded for use later and may be admissible in court. You have the right to an attorney present during this time, would you like one?" Detective Murphy asked.

"Do I need one?" Dawn asked with concern.

"Not if you tell the truth." Detective Murphy said.

"Ok then I don't need one." Dawn said with a shaky voice.

"We're going to begin now. I'll start with asking you some basic questions and then you can go on from there. If I have a question I'll stop you and ask. Okay?"

Dawn gave a nod and Detective Murphy continued.

"When did you first get introduced to this group?"

"Um about five months ago I guess. My best friend Janice she had been seeing this guy Chris unofficially. He's a senior and going to be a freshmen in college. He knew of a college party that he was invited to and he said we could go."

"And Janice and Chris are they involved in the group?" Detective Murphy asked.

"No. They were friends with me and Chris knew the other guys, but they were never there for the robberies, at least that I know of. I mean I would assume that if he was in it before he would have continued to be in it while I was there." Dawn said awkwardly.

"Ok and what happened that night?"

"Chris told us that we had to make sure we proved that we belonged there. We're just sixteen, only in our second year of high school and we were at a college party. We had to prove we could handle it or we wouldn't have been able to come back. Janice and me, we did some shots and a few lines of cocaine throughout the night. We played strip poker and then Jake and me went upstairs to his room. I left the next morning and he told me to come back the next night for another party. I showed up and I did more coke and drank with him. It just kinda went on that way."

"Have you ever done drugs or drank before that night?"

"No that was the first time. I talked to William about it when Buffy was gone those months. I mentioned how people in my class had already been drinking and experimenting with each other. He told me I should enjoy being young because it doesn't last forever. That I have plenty of time to drink and do stupid things when I was older and smart enough to know the difference between right and wrong. I should have listened to his advice."

"It's good advice. Why did you do the drugs and drink that night and the next night? You seem to be smarter than that, why the decision to do drugs out of nowhere?" Detective Murphy asked patiently.

"I just wanted to fit in. To have friends and feel wanted. I don't have many friends at school only Janice really. Everyone else thinks I'm weird or they don't like me because my mom is dead and I don't have a dad. I'm an outcast. My sister's friends were ignoring me basically and treating me like I was some little nine year old. They would seriously talk down to me and act like I was an idiot. I hated it. Then there was Jake and his friends, they joked around with me and didn't treat me like some little girl. Jake liked me and he wanted me and it felt really good to be wanted and to fit in. So I did the drugs and I did things I normally would never have before."

"What happened from there?"

"A week later Chris, Janice, Jake and me went to a hotel room to have our own private party. We did some drugs and drank and left in the morning. You can probably fill in the blanks on that one."

"And after that?"

"We just hung out for the week at night. Nothing crazy happened Jake and me just hung out at his house watching movies and going for dinner. Sometimes we would drink or do a line, but it was mostly just us in the house. Then that weekend William took me to L.A and we hung out with his friends down there. It was great, it was amazing actually. It was the first time in the past year that I had felt wanted and cared about. And it wasn't that fake caring ya know? You can tell the difference, this was real, they actually cared about what I said and they didn't treat me like some little kid. It was the first time in a year that I was actually happy and smiling. Then William dropped me off at the house and Buffy just started yelling and screaming at me the moment I walked in the door, literally the second I opened the door. She was pissed that I had gone to L.A with my brother, like I left with some complete stranger and went joy riding. Willow knew where I was and she said it was okay. Besides Buffy was supposed to be gone all weekend for some workshop for her work or some bullshit like that. I would have been home alone anyways so what was the big deal that I went and spent time in L.A with people who care? She said I couldn't see William anymore and I told her I hated her and then she grounded me. I went up to my room and got changed and snuck out the window and went to Jake's place for the night."

"What happened that night?"

"He was there with five other guys. They gave me a line and a drink and then Jake asked if I had ever stolen anything before and I told him I had."

"Did you?"

"In the past I did ya. He told me he had a job for me, all I had to do was distract a security guard while they went in and stole some jewellery. He was gonna pay me five grand to be the distraction. I agreed, we all went and did it."

"Where was it?"

"That jewellery store on main, Bedmines. They were in and out within fifteen minutes and the other guys got into their car and I went with Jake. He took me out to the buyer."

"Where was the buyer?"

"He was in the next city just north of here. Mike St. Mark is his name. He lives in a really nice house. Jake wanted me to meet him because once he taught me how to drive I would be able to go out there and drop off packages and pick them up. He deals with jewellery, drugs and electronics. Jake and his crew they only took jewellery because it was small and the most expensive. Jake gave him the bag and he got a quarter of a million dollars for the jewellery and a couple pounds of coke. Afterwards we went back to Jake's place and partied for the rest of the night."

"When was the next time you saw Jake?"

Dawn went on to explain everything that had happened in the past five months up until that night. She had told them how she had gone and robbed other places with Jake and the guys all over ten towns all around Sunnydale. When she got to tonight Detective Murphy spoke.

"What happened exactly tonight and who was with you?"

"We went to one of the jewellery store on Fifth, it's got the most high-end jewellery. It was going to be easily a four million pay for us. You split that seven ways and it's a good payday. The security guard was supposed to be gone. Jake had some of the guys watching the place for weeks and every night he disappears for an hour dinner break. That's when we went in, but he must have forgotten something because he came back just ten minutes later. We were almost out of there, but we didn't make it in time. I didn't know Mark had a gun with him. I had no idea he even had one. When the security guard came back Mark didn't even hesitate he just pulled his gun out from behind his back and shot him right in the chest. He went down so fast. We all took off, I don't know if anyone even grabbed the bag or not. Mark gave me the gun and told me to run and go back to my sister's house for the night. That he would text me in the morning. I was with the two guys you caught me with and Jake went with the other guys in the opposite directions. Now here I am."

"So you don't know who would have had the bag?"

"No I didn't see. I just ran like hell and then I got caught."

"Who were the other guys?"

"Mark Richards, Kevin Right and Jimmy Smith. Jake's name is Jake Fraser. You have Matt and John."

'We'll run the others and pick them up. Do you know who Mike St. Mark was selling his drugs or the stolen items to?"

"No, but he kept a log of everything he got and where it went. He has a party Saturday night. He invited all of his business partners there to have a good time. If you go to his place Saturday night around eleven and you'll get everyone he knows."

"That is helpful information Dawn. Is there anything else you need to tell us?"

"No not that I can think of. I told you everything I know and all of the times I was with them. I don't know if he went other times without me, but he always took me with him since the first time so I don't think so."

"Thank-you for all of the information. We may need you to come back down here at a later date to ask for more clarity or more information on something as the investigation continues. For now I think we have everything we need. Miss. Wilson will go over with you Dawn what will happen to you now on her end. Do either of you have any questions?"

"Could this get dangerous for her?" Spike asked with concern.

"I don't think so. I don't know for certain obviously. I don't know who the buyer is selling to. We will keep her name out of it until she has to testify. Realistically most of the lower level guys will plead out to try and save their own asses by giving us even more information to go off of. Dawn might luck out that she might not need to testify if someone comes forth with more criminal information." Detective Murphy explained.

"I think they'll notice when I don't show back up."

"We will realise it to the press that a minor was arrested and was released to a distant relative until trial. We won't state your name, but if they read the news they will see it."

"Can I get my stuff from my place?"

"Where do you live?"

"I have a one bedroom apartment plus some things left at Buffy's house."

"You can get your things as long as they are not at Jake's. You put yourself at risk of being seen and him going on the run. You will also need to change your phone number."

"She's not getting phone privileges anytime soon. She's very much grounded so a new number won't be a problem. She's not getting the phone back." Spike said.

"I can reach you at the number I called you at tonight?" Detective Murphy asked Spike.

"Yes anytime."

"Dawn, you are now in the hands of Miss. Wilson. I will go and work on your paperwork to allow you to leave. I strongly suggest you take this opportunity and get your life back on track. I've seen it too many times where a beautiful, intelligent young woman like yourself got taken advantage of and manipulated by a man. Don't let it happen again. I wish you luck with your baby for whatever you may decide to do about the pregnancy. I'll be in touch Mr. Jackson for any future interviews I will need to have with Dawn."

"Thank-you for all you have done for my sister tonight. I greatly appreciate it." Spike said honestly.

"She doesn't get another chance with me after this. I hope you smarten up little girl." Detective Murphy said as he stood up.

"I will." Dawn said humbly.

"She's all yours Miss. Wilson."

Detective Murphy headed out of the room and left Miss. Wilson to explain to Dawn and Spike what was going to happen next.

"Now Dawn, your sister has been removed as your guardian. Right now you don't have an official guardian. My supervisor has agreed to allow your half-brother William to have temporary guardianship of you. A worker in L.A will come and speak with you both and see where you will be living Dawn. The worker will come by a few times a month to make sure you are being looked after properly and that you are in school and doing your community service that is required. I am sure William has told you about that."

"Ya he has and I will do it I swear." Dawn said.

"You need to be enrolled into school for September and you will need to be in summer school to make up for the courses. If you decide to have the baby then you will need to figure out how you want to handle school in September as you will still be pregnant. The school may let you do the schooling through correspondence for the first semester and then go to school for the second half. That is something you can discuss with the guidance counsellor. The social worker in L.A may have other requirements of you. He or she will also be involved with you while you are pregnant and then if you keep the baby afterwards. That is something you can speak to the worker about and what he or she feels on the matter. If you keep the baby you need to be prepared for the worker to be there for the first year after the baby is born because of your age and your recent history."

"I get that. I don't know what I am gonna do yet."

"That's understandable. You have roughly three weeks to think about it and decide before you are past the safe range of having an abortion. You should make an appointment with a doctor so you can be examined and an ultrasound can be performed so you know exactly how far along you are."

"She'll go and see one within the next few days." Spike said.

"I have some paperwork I need you to sign William and then once Detective Murphy says so you can go for the night and a social worker will see you tomorrow for ten at the hotel."

Spike gave a nod and tried not to cringe at the ten in the morning part. The last thing he wanted to do was stress over that for the rest of the night. It was already nine o'clock at night and they still had to go and get Dawn her things and drive two hours back all before they could get Dawn settled in and go to sleep. Then they would have to be up and ready for ten in the morning and the place would need to get cleaned and make sure there were no weapons or anything questionable for the social worker. Spike went through the paperwork and signed everything. His brain was exhausted though so he just nodded and signed. He would read the papers again later or give them to Angel and he could tell him what they said. It wasn't that he wasn't intelligent, he was more intelligent and educated than Angel, but right now with his injuries and the level of exhaustion plaguing his body he just couldn't get the information to process right now. Angel would be able to understand it and then explain it to him.

Once all of the paperwork was complete it was another hour before Detective Murphy came in and told them that Dawn was cleared to leave. They both got up and headed out of the room. Spike was very stiff and sore at this point and he just wished he could sleep wrapped up in Angel's arms. Spike could barely walk from all of the pain and when they finally made it to the lobby Spike was thrilled to see Angel get up and come over to him. Angel put a supportive arm around Spike to help him stand up and walk. The others turned to Dawn and she looked down in embarrassment and shame.

"Hey Dawnie. How you feeling?" Gunn asked.

"Stupid pretty much sums it up."

Gunn went over to Dawn and pulled her into a hug. She didn't expect it and she hugged him back.

"We've all done stupid shit at your age. It's part of growin' up." Gunn said.

Dawn gave Gunn a small smile of thanks as they pulled back.

"Has she been released?" Wesley asked.

"Ya she's cleared to leave. A social worker will be at the hotel tomorrow morning at ten to speak to me and Dawn. She's allowed to get her things from her apartment and from Buffy's." Spike answered.

"We'll let's get this show on the road we still got a two hour drive left to do." Cordelia said.

They all headed out of the station and towards the cars. On the way over to the car Angel whispered to Spike.

"Are you ok?"

"No it really hurts Liam. I'm so tired I just want to sleep for a week and I can't. We still have to get Dawn's things and then drive back. We have to make sure there aren't any weapons around or anything the worker could question. All before ten in the morning when the worker shows up. Everything hurts and is burning right now." Spike said with complete pain in his voice.

"Once we get on the highway you can sleep the rest of the way there. When we get in you need to feed and then sleep."

"I have work to do."

"You have to sleep. I will worry about making sure the place is fine for the worker. You need to feed and sleep so you can heal. Let's get this part done quickly so you can sleep." Angel said as he opened the door for Spike.

He helped Spike get into the car and Dawn got into the back with Cordelia. Wesley, Fred and Gunn got back into their car and Angel got into the driver's seat.

"Where is your apartment Dawn?" Angel asked with a tightness to his voice. A clear indication that he was still pissed off.

"33 Market Street apt 3." Dawn said back.

Angel put the car in drive and took off for the address with Gunn driving behind him. While on the way Dawn spoke.

"What about my car? It's at my place."

"Did the police say anything about it?" Angel asked.

"No they didn't ask her bout money or the car." Spike said.

"Wesley or Cordelia could drive it back then." Angel said.

"I'll drive it." Cordelia offered.

"Just grab the things you need Dawn. The rest can stay behind and if there is something big and important we can come back for it." Angel said.

"There isn't anything big and important. It's just furniture. I just need my clothes and stuff." Dawn said.

No one said anything as they made the rest of the drive. Once there everyone got out of their cars and followed Dawn inside. Angel made sure he held onto Spike as they headed inside. Once Dawn unlocked her apartment door she went in and the others followed. The apartment wasn't anything fancy, it was just a one bedroom with some furniture. It was clear she was only here when she wasn't with Jake and as a place to have all of her clothes and things. She was probably here with Jake when they wanted to be alone without having to deal with anyone bothering them.

"I'll go pack my clothes." Dawn said.

"I'll come help." Cordelia said.

"Me too." Fred said.

"Is there anything out here you need packed?" Gunn asked.

"Not really. Mostly everything is in in the bedroom or at my room at Buffy's." Dawn answered.

The girls went down the hallway to the bedroom and Angel placed Spike down on the couch. Spike let out a shaky breath and Wesley spoke.

"Are you alright Spike?"

"Great." Spike said sarcastically.

"I know it's a stupid question, but I had to ask. What are we going to do about Dawn's things at Buffy's place?" Wesley asked.

"We'll have to go and pick them up." Spike said.

"Maybe we should call Giles and have him meet us there?" Wesley suggested.

"It couldn't hurt just in case." Gunn said.

"Give him a call Wes and let him know that we found Dawn and she is going back with us. To meet us at the house just in case." Angel said.

Wesley pulled out his phone and headed into the kitchen to speak with Giles. It was getting late, but it wasn't too late at night to be disturbing.

"What about the furniture and the lease here?" Gunn asked.

"We'll have to deal with the landlord later. We won't worry about it tonight. Tomorrow I can call and put in Dawn's notice and we can figure out what to do with the furniture then." Angel said.

Dawn, Cordelia and Fred went to work on packing up all of Dawn's clothes and things that she had in her bedroom and bathroom. While Dawn worked on her clothes she also noticed that Jake had come by and dropped off the money from tonight's robbery. She looked over to make sure that Fred and Cordelia were busy and had their back to her. Dawn opened the bag and saw that it was full of one hundred dollar bills all in packages. She knew she should mention something, but she wasn't going to give this money up. She had a bunch in her bank account from the past five months. She had made a lot of money and this would just add to it. She could put it away slowly and use it for a life for herself. Dawn continued to pack like she didn't find a bag full of money. Once everything was done she made sure she carried that bag with her out to the living room and the others helped to carry the other bags down to the parking garage where her car was. She put the money bag in the trunk and the others went in there or in the back seat.

"So I guess I can't drive my car eh?" Dawn said with an awkward smile.

"No. You've lost that privilege not to mention you aren't even legally old enough to drive on your own." Spike said.

"No car, no phone and a hundred thousand hours of community service. This is going to be fun." Dawn said.

Spike growled at her, actually growled at her. And Dawn gave an awkward smile before she spoke.

"Not that I'm complaining. Jail would have been worse. It's just an adjustment period. Not complaining."

"I'll drive your car." Cordelia said.

"I'll drive the car. With your lead foot you are bound to crash. You are welcome to ride with me, but I will drive." Wesley said as he took the keys from Dawn.

"Fine, but I get shotgun." Cordelia said.

"Let's go to the house and get the rest of Dawn's things. We still have a two hour drive ahead of us." Angel said.

"When will a worker be at the hotel to meet with us?" Wesley asked.

"Tomorrow morning at ten." Spike said.

"So we'll need to make sure the weapons are hidden and no magical books are around for it." Gunn said.

"We also have to clean. That place is a mess. Plus hide the blood in the fridge." Cordelia said.

"We can deal with it when we get back." Angel said.

"Angel is right. Let's go and get the rest of Dawn's things so we can start the drive back." Wesley said.

Wesley and Cordelia got into Dawn's car while the others went to the other two cars. They all made the drive to Buffy's house. It was a good twenty minutes later when they arrived at the house.

"Is she going to be home?" Dawn asked softly.

"I don't know." Spike said back.

"Wes called Giles so he'll be here. I don't know who else will be." Angel answered.

"You have to go in Niblet and get your stuff. This isn't something I want to come back down for later." Spike said.

"Ya me either. Okay well here goes nothing." Dawn said as she got out of the car.

Everyone else got out and they headed inside. Dawn walked in first and saw that everyone was in the living room, including Buffy. She didn't look happy to see everyone walking into the house, especially Spike. She got up and Angel stood in front of Spike and Gunn went to stand beside Angel. Blocking Buffy from getting Spike.

"What the hell are you all doing in my house?" Buffy asked with anger.

"Go get your stuff Dawn." Angel said with a tight voice.

"I'll come help." Fred said looking to get away from the tension in the room.

Dawn and Fred headed up the stairs as Buffy spoke.

"Get her stuff? And where exactly is she going Angel?" Buffy said with a deadly anger.

"She's going to L.A with us. She's living with us from now on. The social worker already granted Spike temporary guardianship until Dawn turns eighteen." Angel said.

"I'm not going to let my sister be raised by some soulless, disgusting, evil thing." Buffy said with disgust in her voice.

"I'd watch what you say if I were you. You're the only one against it here." Gunn said with his own anger.

"They won't let Spike take her. They would never go against me." Buffy said back.

"I don't hear any objections here." Gunn said.

"Maybe Dawnie going to L.A would be a good thing. She's obviously been on the wrong path for a while now. It would be good for her to be in a new environment." Tara said awkwardly. It was clear she was afraid to go against Buffy, but she couldn't keep quiet about it either.

"And since when do you get an opinion here?" Buffy snapped.

"Hey you can't talk to her like that. You haven't exactly cared what Dawnie has been doing since you've come back. You didn't even ask if she was okay or where she's been when she came in. You just started on Angel and the rest of them for being here." Willow said in defence of her girlfriend.

"Clearly she's been out with friends. I'm busy working and protecting the town from the evil undead at night so excuse me if I don't know her exact whereabouts."

"She was arrested. She has been working with a crew robbing jewellery stores for the past five months. She was arrested tonight after a security guard was shot and killed during the robbery. She was going to be charged and was facing a twenty-five to life sentence. Spike was called to come down and speak with the detective and social worker to try and get Dawn to give everyone up. It was over two hours to get all of the information out of her and she was cleared to leave." Wesley explained.

"Holy shit." Xander said.

"Good Lord. What happens now?" Giles asked.

"She has to testify and she will probably have to come back down to answer more questions as they come up. A social worker will be involved for a long time before Dawn's case is closed. She also destroyed her principal's car and home. It will cost him over a hundred thousand dollars in repairs. He has agreed to drop the charges if she doesn't fight being expelled and does a hundred thousand hours of community service. Spike got her to agree to it. We'll need to enroll Dawn into summer school and into a normal high school down there." Angel explained.

"She's been doing drugs, probably addicted to cocaine from it all. She's also two months pregnant again." Cordelia added.

"Oh my god." Willow said sadly.

"How could she do that again? What the hell is doing?" Xander said angry that they had missed so much and at Dawn for acting like this.

"You've been neglecting and ignoring her for over a year what the hell did you think was going to happen?" Cordelia said with anger.

"It's not their job to hold her hand. She's just acting out because she's bored and being petty. It's Spike's influence on her clearly." Buffy said angry.

"Spike is the only person who has cared about her and was there for her. He doesn't have a bad influence on her and if it wasn't for Spike she would be going to jail right now." Angel said with a growl to his voice.

"No she wouldn't be, because she wouldn't have turned into some robbing whore. It's his influence on her." Buffy said back.

"What the hell happened to you? You were in Heaven and got pulled out and ya that's horrible. But most people would have been happy they could be around their loved ones again. Most would be happy to know that when they do die they get to go back. They don't have to fear death. But you, you've turned into a soulless monster yourself and have been neglecting your sister and harming people who can't even fight back." Angel said as his eyes turned to yellow from his anger.

"I don't hurt people. I hurt things, which I'm allowed to do. You're not taking Dawn from here."

"Yes we are and if you want to call the police be my guess. It's legal and there is nothing you can do about it or them. What are you going to do tell them that Spike is a vampire? They'll take you away instead of him. Give it up Buffy, Dawn is coming with us and don't act like you will miss her, we all know you won't." Angel said.

Dawn and Fred came back down the stairs with just two duffle bags. They made sure to pack quick so they wouldn't be in the house for any longer than they needed to be.

"Ready." Dawn said.

"We'll be in touch." Giles told everyone.

"In the car." Wesley said to everyone, but Angel and Gunn. He wanted to get the girls out first just in case something happened.

Wesley went out with the girls and got them into the cars before he went back inside and held onto Spike, who had yet to say anything and got him out of the house and away from anything physical.

"This isn't over." Buffy warned Angel and Gunn.

"You try and hurt anyone I care about and I will kill you. Slayer or not. The Buffy I knew and loved died and she didn't come back out of that grave. I'm not going to let you hurt either one of them ever again. Fix your Slayer Giles." Angel said the last part as he looked at Giles and the warning was loud and clear. Either he fix it or Angel would and they might not like how Angel was going to fix things.

"We'll come visit." Tara said.

"We'll call before we do." Willow added.

"Let's get them home." Gunn said to Angel to get Angel to calm down enough to get him out of the house before he started a physical fight.

"This is far from over. You have no idea what you have just done." Buffy said with anger.

Angel gave Buffy one last look before he went out of the house with Gunn and into his car while Gunn got into his. They all turned the car on and they all pulled out and headed for the highway to get back to L.A. Once they were on the highway Angel tried to get Spike to put his seat back and try to rest, but Angel could see by the look on Spike's face and in his eyes that it was pointless. He was too shaken up by seeing Buffy tonight and everything else that had happened to be able to sleep right now. He desperately needed rest and Angel was hoping he would be able to get Spike calmed down enough to get him to sleep. It was going to be after midnight by the time they got back to the hotel and they would still need to get Dawn's things inside before they could get to bed. They were quiet on the drive back to the hotel. When they finally arrived Angel parked the car and the others did the same. It was just past twelve thirty in the morning and they were all tired. They got out of the car and Angel helped to get Spike up and standing. He was in a lot of pain and it was clear he needed sleep.

Everyone grabbed the bags of Dawn's things and brought them into the hotel and up to the room she slept in the last time she was here. Dawn gave everyone a small smile of thanks as she spoke.

"Thank-you for helping me."

"It's what family does." Gunn said.

"I suggest we all get some sleep before the morning. We can clean up and hide the weapons then." Wesley said.

"Agreed. So tired right now." Cordelia said.

"Goodnight Dawn." Fred said with a small smile.

"Goodnight guys." Dawn said to everyone. They all headed out and went off to their own rooms or to an empty room for the night instead of driving back to their homes.

Angel brought Spike into their bedroom and over to the bed.

"I'll be right back." Angel said as he placed a gentle kiss to Spike's forehead.

He went into the bathroom and started the bath. He wanted to help Spike relax so he figured a nice hot bath would help him to relax and help his sore muscles. Once the bath was ready he went out to the bedroom and helped to get Spike undressed. Spike didn't even argue at all and just allowed Angel to help him get undressed. Once Spike was undressed Angel did the same for himself and then picked up Spike bridal style and Spike curled into Angel's arms. Angel brought them into the bathroom and got into the tub and Angel made sure Spike's back was against his chest. Angel leaned back and Spike curled up against Angel's chest. He let out a small sigh at the warmth of the water. Angel rubbed his family claim mark on Spike's neck and Spike let out a moan of comfort.

"Talk to me my sweet Childe."

"I don't know what to say." Spike said softly back and Angel could hear the pain in his voice.

"I know you aren't okay with what Buffy said to you. You didn't say anything to her and I didn't expect you to. I'm sorry you had to see her so soon when you weren't ready for it." Angel said calmly as he continued to rub Spike's mark.

"I should have said something to her. I just… the second I saw her I felt like I was back there in that cage. I couldn't even breathe and the pain got worse. Like my body knew she was the one to cause it. I don't know if I'll ever be able to see her and not see what she did to me." Spike said with a shaky voice.

"You had just been tortured for months straight by her Will. I would have a problem seeing her too. I wanted to kill her the second my eyes laid on her tonight. I could feel your pain. I hate that you feel like this. You don't ever have to see her again if you don't want to. I'll deal with her and soldier boy. You don't even have to worry about it. I'll keep you safe."

"You shouldn't have to. I should be able to protect myself."

"But they are human and since that chip in your head you can't. So until we find a way to get it out I'll keep you safe from the humans in the world."

"What do you mean get it out?" Spike asked confused.

"You didn't think I would leave you being unable to defend yourself against a human did you?" Angel asked calmly.

"Honestly? Ya. If the chip comes out there won't be anything stopping me from killing people. I figured you wouldn't ever want this chip out."

"You stop yourself from killing people. That chip isn't what is keeping you from getting a pack together and killing people. You made the choice to change and to do good. Having the chip out isn't going to stop that. Are you telling me you would go back to killing and leave here without the chip?" Angel asked already knowing the answer.

"No I wouldn't. I know that. I love you and I'm not gonna leave you. But I just thought you wouldn't trust me without it."

"I trust you without the chip. I know you would never do anything to hurt me like that. You have a lot better control over your demon than I ever did. I trust you without the chip my sweet Childe. We're gonna find a way to get it out safely so you can protect yourself against the humans that want to hurt you."

Spike curled into Angel even more, but being careful of his injuries. He felt a weight coming off his shoulders knowing that Angel was going to try and find a way to get the chip out so he could defend himself against humans. He hated not being able to protect himself and Angel understood that and was willing to help him overcome it.

"Everything hurts." Spike said softly and Angel could hear the pain and exhaustion in his voice.

"I know my love. It won't be much longer and the pain will start to go away. I know tonight didn't go how you were hoping it would, but Dawnie is back in our lives and she is safe tonight. That's a very good thing."

"It is. It was worth the pain to go down and get her. I just hate that she went through all of this."

"So do I, but hopefully she is on the right path now and we can get her better."

"What if she wants to keep the baby?"

"Then we will help her take care of it. It's her choice and if she wants to keep the baby then we can make it work. We're in this together, me and you."

"Thank-you."

"You don't have to thank me. She's family and you help family no matter what. We'll figure it all out. We just don't have to do it tonight. Are you ready to get out and get some sleep?"

"With you?" Spike asked with hope.

"I'll hold you all night my Love." Angel said as he placed a kiss to Spike's head.

"Ok"

They both got out of the tub and dried off. They didn't get dressed they just went over to the bed and got in. Angel laid down and Spike went and curled up on Angel's chest.

"You need to feed my Childe."

Spike gave a small nod before he moved up to Angel's neck. Angel placed a comforting hand on the back of Spike's neck and felt Spike gently put his hands into Angel's neck. Spike drank for a few minutes before he pulled out his fangs and licked the wound closed. Angel gave Spike a small good night kiss before Spike put his head back down on Angel's chest and closed his eyes. Angel rubbed the back of Spike's neck and within moments he put Spike's demon into a deep slumber. Angel held onto Spike and allowed himself to fall asleep knowing that Spike was safe in his arms once again.

Dawn went to start putting things away. She was used to being up late and she really wasn't in the mood to sleep just yet. She grabbed the bag that held all of the money and she looked through it. She wasn't able to keep her drugs as the police had taken them from her and Spike took her car keys and phone. She found money in the middle section of the duffle bag, but on the ends she did find a half of pound of cocaine and a cell phone. Jake put it in there as a backup just in case they needed to get out quickly. She took out the cocaine and made herself a line. She knew that she shouldn't be doing it because she was pregnant, but she also knew she wasn't going to be a teen mom. She really didn't care after the night she just had. She took the line and then grabbed the phone and sent Jake a text.

'_**Where are you? I was caught by the police.'**_

Dawn then went to putting her things away. She made sure she hid the bag in the closet so no one would notice it. After a minute the phone buzzed and she saw the text message.

'_**Are you ok? How did you get out? Where are you?'**_

'_**I'm fine. My half-brother came and got me out. I'm in L.A, but I'm stuck down here. You need to get out of town and Tell Mike to get out of town and stay away for a while. I had to tell them about what happened tonight and about Mike to get out of there, but I gave them a fake last name for him. They want to go to his place Saturday night. I lied and told them he was having a big party with all of his buyers so they would wait. So get him out. I have the money in case they looked through my apartment.'**_

Dawn continued to put clothes away until she got the next text.

'_**Fuck. Alright I'll get him to leave. He's got a place down there we can crash and hide out at. Who else got caught?'**_

'_**Mike and John, but they won't be getting out. They'll be looking for you so you have to hurry.'**_

'_**I'll leave right now. Do you have your car and your phone?'**_

'_**My car is here, but my half-brother took my keys and my other phone. This is the only one I have and I'll have to hide it from them. I miss you. I was really worried about you. I didn't want to tell them anything, but I had to get out.'**_

'_**I miss you too babe. I know you didn't want to talk. I'm sorry you got caught I didn't want you in there. What did you tell them?'**_

'_**Nothing they didn't already know. I told them I didn't know where you would go, but you have to hurry. I don't want you in jail babe. They asked about the shooting and I said Mark shot the guard and gave me the gun like you said I should do if something ever went wrong. '**_

'_**Good babe. I didn't expect the guard to show up. Mark should have known better than to try and double cross us with that guard. Did the cops test your hands?"**_

"_**Ya but the gloves worked to cover the GSR and then I tossed them like you said so it looked like I was handed the guy."**_

"_**The gloves were Mark's so if the find them it'll come back as his DNA. Nice work babe. I'll leave right now, just packing a bag. I already sent Mike the text to get out. I'll meet you in L.A, but we'll have to keep it hidden and play it cool for a little while. Keep half of the money and I'll come by for the rest to get us through. We'll figure it out.'**_

'_**There's something you should know. I'm pregnant again. I don't know how far along.'**_

'_**Fuck really? Do you want it?'**_

'_**Not unless you do. I'll make an appointment and see how far along I am so I can get an abortion again. I gotta go on the pill fuck.'**_

'_**You really do babe. Alright let me know how that goes. I'll text you when I'm safe in L.A. I love you.'**_

'_**I love you. Be safe babe.'**_

'_**Always, you too.'**_

'_**Night'**_

'_**Night, see ya soon'**_

Dawn let out a breath as she sat down and looked around her. Spike and Cordelia both said that if Jake loved her he wouldn't have put her through any of this, but Dawn just couldn't forget all of the good times they have had. They never even fought. Of course he loved her and she wasn't going to just let the man of her dreams go to jail. They would get through this together and she wasn't going to abandon him to jail. Dawn felt better knowing that Jake would get out and so would Mike. She knew that Mike might not trust her too much right now, but she knew that Jake did and he understood why she had to do this. They could get through this together. With that thought in mind Dawn finished putting away her things before she would have to get some sleep so she could play nice with the social worker. As long as no one suspected anything was going on with her then they would never know that she was still with Jake and she would still be able to see him. She could fake it when it mattered and this definitely mattered to her. She and Jake would be together forever in paradise


	11. Follow Me- Update

Hello there!

I have begun a collection of new books for all ages from children's picture books to adult series that are being published online. You can connect with me and find out more information through my social media pages. I am working on finishing my novel called Satanic Inferno. It will be published through Kobo on March 1st, 2017. Check out my Facebook page for more information and a 10% discount code for the first few days of the release.

You have all followed me on Fanfiction and I am hoping you will continue to follow me now that I have transitioned into writing and publishing my own novels. But fear not I am still going to be working on Fanfiction and finishing all of my stories. I'm not going anywhere in that sense. All support would be greatly appreciated.

Thank-you so much to all of my loyal followers. Without you none of this would have been possible! If you have any questions or would like a sneak peek of my novel please Message me and I will send it your way.

Facebook: DianneRose2016


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